One Step at a Time
by Daybraver
Summary: A what if story about Naegi making a discovery about Kyoko's forbidden action. spoilers for episode 9. content warning, though not the sexy kind.
1. No regrets

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa, it's characters or it's anime.

* * *

It wasn't that he'd run out of hope, it was more that he knew she'd be able to carry it without him.

The Ultimate Hope, that's what the future foundation called him. It was a little funny, a celebration of his victory against Enoshima Junko, an honor, really- but he always felt it was a little different than that.

After all, he didn't know if he could've made it through on his own. No. He probably couldn't have. He wouldn't have made it past the first week, standing alone in that school with nothing but the memory of Maizono's dripping blood.

it was because of them that he could stand at all, they were a blessing. Always there at the back of his mind, or a few rings on the bell away. Even when some of them weren't... really... around, like now, he still felt like he count on them to help him keep going even when everything seemed set on despair.

In that school, covered in death and helplessness, they had always given him reason to hope. To keep going through each day, each case, and all the dark rooms where all he could smell was the blood and rot. Through the mocking executions where he'd lose another person he could've- had- called a friend, and all he could hear was the spitting of the flames and the endless baseball impacts, they always stood with him, and he with them. They all gave each other hope.

Even now, with so many lost, he still had enough reason to try his hardest and never give up. When times got dark he had Asahina's sunny charm. When he got lost there was always Byakuya's somewhat distant support to count on. Hagakure's predictions were always a good start the morning, letting him think, day after day, that maybe things would be fine again, and of course he always had Touko's... Odd friendliness.

Kyoko too, she was a constant companion throughout it all, always in control, always figuring out the crime before the rest of you really had a clue- she lived up to her title of the ultimate detective, that's for sure.

But it was the quiet moments that really stood out, when he needed a shoulder to lean on, a hand to help him up, or a ladder to get him out of the garbage chute, she was there. Even though she seemed aloof and standoffish, she was always there to help him.

Along the way somewhere, he'd even fallen in love. The love- it gave him more than enough hope- hope for the future, that the next day would be fine, that eventually despair would be defeated and their future would be just within reach- that nothing would ever crush them.

he still thought that, really, only now, in this dank building that could give the school life killing a run for it's money in despair, it was more along the line of thinking that it wouldn't crush.. one.. of them.

It was the bracelets, see, they didn't show mercy, and he didn't think that hope was going to get him out of this- if Seiko couldn't cure it, then who could? So when he saw Kyoko's NG code flashing on her wrist- unnoticed in Ryouta's hurry to barricade the room- when he saw what her forbidden action was-

"Passing the fourth Sleeping Phase with Makoto Naegi still alive".

-he had a horrible, sinking feeling in his gut. Was it despair? He hoped not, he didn't want to fail anyone like that.

It- the action was like a death knell for the two of them. A motive, if he ever saw one, a cruel throwback to those times three years ago when he'd been trapped in the school life of mutual killing.

It was worthless though, he knew Kyoko wouldn't make a move, just like he wouldn't. He'd never betray her, just like she'd never betray him, because the both of them could never bear to do that to each other.

Then again, this was also a sort of betrayal, she hadn't wanted him to see it, so this was kind of like an invasion of privacy, a secret she'd wanted hidden that he'd ended up peeking on.

She'd probably expected to hide it until the time limit, it would be just like her.

If he could understand that, then surely she would understand what he was about to do.

Even so, he still felt that there was something he needed to say, to get into the air before Ryouta finished moving that couch in front of the door, before his way out was blocked.

He wanted to tell her he loved her.

He took it in again, the colour of her hair, the calm of her countenance, the quiet resolve that always burned bright in her eyes. All the things he'd come to look to for strength. All the things he'd fallen in love with.

If she noticed him staring, she didn't let him know, it was... lucky, if she'd looked at him, spoken to him, he might not have been able to do it.

Yes very lucky. Lucky like when he'd been accepted into hopes peak. Lucky like when alter ego had had just enough time to save his life, lucky like when he'd stood on _the one part_ of the floor that was thin enough for Gozu to break.

Lucky like the pen that rolled into his shoes and tore his eyes away from his love. Lucky like the scrap of paper he'd saved just in case he's needed to write something in this despair ridden underwater prison.

Yes, that would do, maybe it wouldn't be the same as if he were telling her, alone- in a quiet moment of free time- but it would be enough to tell her that it wasn't her fault. That he did this because she was the person he held most dear. That, no matter what, he knew she would carry on his hopes as far as they would go. That he believed in her, and Asahina, and Togami, Hagakure, Touko, Komaru. That he loved her.

When it was finally over, and lifting the pen felt like lifting a million things at once, and folding the paper felt like locking away his heart so that nothing else could spill out onto the walls and waste his precious time, he made sure he looked at her one last time before turning and walking toward the door.

He heard Asahina call out, alarm open in her voice, and he could almost feel Ryouta's horrified eyes drilling into his back thinking "there's no way the ultimate hope could fall to despair like this!"

It was a little different than that of course, it wasn't like you'd given up hope or anything, you just knew that your hopes were in the right hands.

Besides, being The Ultimate Hope was a team effort anyway, Kyoko could find a way, with Asahina's light and Togami's assistance, Hagakure's guidance and Touko's support.

They'd be fine on their own, so he ran, with no regrets.

* * *

This will... probably be continued actually. In the far, far future. Maybe. Probably not.


	2. Unclouded Eyes

I don't own Danganronpa, it's characters, or it's anime.

* * *

When Kyouko made her way to the disfigured body of the latest victim, it was a thousand years too late, yet at the same time, not late enough.

Makoto hadn't made it far. Having not expected the poison to be so excruciating, his body had turned left and impacted against the hall in an automatic response to the pain in his right side.

Now he was sitting, legs splayed out in front of him, twitching, as he leaned against the walls of the hallway for support. He was still alive, though barely so, heaving shattered breaths that sent shudders up his entire body.

Asahina was desperately flitting around him, she'd always been the faster runner, and had been the first to act when Makoto had ran out the door and into the hallway, but even if she were the fastest person in the world she wouldn't have been able to prevent anything. That didn't stop her from trying to now, though- crying and shaking him by the shoulders as if this would somehow wake him from death itself.

Kyouko had come after, too late to be of any comfort, and only watched them impassively from the doorway, struggling to remain objective as she watched the person she'd sworn to protect the most- sworn to never again betray- expire painfully on the floor.

It was no use crying, she knew that, crying had never saved anyone, never prevented any tragedy. Crying was for 'afterwards'- that miraculous time when lives weren't at stake and people weren't dying, it was for beautiful, sunny days where there was no fog to obscure the future and no blood on the floor to step over.

Crying was for standing next to the person you trusted most of all to be there for you, to finally let everything collapse so you could look at the sky with clear eyes again.

Crying was for later, and for now she had a mystery to solve. A duty to fulfill- to the truth- or maybe even to hope, even though her own hope was dying out on the floor.

So she closed off her emotions and waited for the inevitable to happen, and after what seemed like an eternity, it finally did, the shuddering breaths halting as hands fell uselessly to their sides, stained with blood and violet.

Kyoko closed her eyes, she didn't pray, not to god, but she felt her hopes fly from her all the same, hopes that whatever happened, whether it be rivers or oblivion, that it would at least be better than this.

Kyouko allowed Makoto- and Asahina, and even perhaps herself, a half minute of silence.

Then she got to work.

"Mitarai."

"Kirigiri, I-"

"Could you please cover the body with your coat?"

"...What?" His response was hesitant, pulsing with an undercurrent of an accusation, but she paid it no mind, he could think she was cold if that's what he wanted, perhaps she was even cold, it was all cursory.

"We need to move on,"

Stepping to the right of the doorway with the grace that was expected of her, she followed Mitarai's movements as he slowly walked past and respectfully laid his coat over Makoto's corpse. From the way he hesitantly guided Asahina to the side, to the way he shivered as he laid the body down coffin style, to the flare of the coat as he straightened out all the wrinkles and set it to it's place.

Watching the coat slowly fall over Makoto's face, large enough to cover the bloodied eye and pronounced veins of his right side, filled Kyouko with a sense of emptiness despite herself, an ache, deep within her chest where it felt like her lungs were full to bursting, that had been her constant companion throughout these three years.

She'd waited for so long to fix that ache, waited for that 'afterwards' to come, so that she could let it all out to the person she cared for more than anyone and finally rest for a little, to finally let this guard down and really, truly grieve. Now, watching Mitarai clasp Makoto's hands above his chest in mock prayer, it occurred to her that the person she would need beside her at that time was now gone.

On some level, she was glad that Ryouta hadn't questioned why she wasn't the one doing this- like she had for Chisa and Izayoi- if she had had to cover him like that herself, then the sense of finality- it wasn't something she wanted to deal with right now, not when the situation was still unstable. She needed to be a detective right now, not a girl, and with Makoto, it was always too hard to distinguish the two.

After giving Ryouta some time to stand, Kirigiri turned to him and gave him the slightest of nods, it was all the thanks she could muster right now, "The time will run out soon, and we no longer have any left to spend on a barricade, we'll have to take our chances in that room."

Ryouta nodded wordlessly, stepping back through the door with the air of one who had seen death. Asahina silently followed after him, her face red from crying, but in spite of her tears, when she turned to face Kyouko just before passing over the threshold, there was still resolve in her tired eyes.

The fact that Asahina still had such strength eased the ache somewhat, and Kyouko allowed the mercy of losing herself to focus on Asahina's steady steps as she followed. To ignore the severity of the situation for just a moment and collect herself.

Minutes passed as she listened to those footsteps, counting them on her fingers until they died down and left her with only the beating of her heart and the hotness of the breath.

A part of her wanted to think, to reminisce, to replay that moment when Makoto had run and consider what she might've done, but Kyouko had neither the time nor the liberty to feel sorry for herself.

Another part of herself was slowly remembering that Makoto's death meant that she would live another hour. Kyouko would've allowed this part, were it not for the sickening portmanteau of relief and guilt that festered inside it, colouring her eyes with endless fog.

She wanted nothing to do with either of them, so instead she counted each breath- held for ten seconds and released for the same, until her heart was once again quieted, and her vision was cleared of mist and rain.

She counted in silence, until their bracelets finally sang, signalling that their time was almost up.

Ryouta went first, falling, first to his knees, then to his side. Asahina looked to be following suit, but was driven to stand for just a few more moments. Through sheer force of will, her long standing friend lifted her head to look into her eyes one last time.

"Kyouko?"

"Asahina?"

"I just want you to know." she said, blinking slowly, barely able to keep her eyes open, "That when he died, h- he was smiling."

Kyouko...didn't know what to think, luckily, the sleeping drug that circulated in her system made sure she didn't have to.

It was a dreamless sleep they fell to.

* * *

Wasn't planning on updating this so soon, but since it was Kyouko's birthday, I thought "why not?"

Lucky after my other story that I'm trying to keep the chapters light,

Unluckily I feel like _maybe_ the characters are a bit ooc. ಸ_ಸ


	3. Light breaks through

I don't own Danganronpa.

* * *

When she finally came to a groggy consciousness, it took Kyouko a short moment to realize she was still alive- and another to conceive what this all meant- before the realization hit her like an ocean of freezing water.

Of course she was still alive- of course. After all, Makoto was dead, wasn't he? Her reason to die had taken his own life, and so she still had hers- had had the blood taken off of her hands and her decision stolen out from under her. She even felt something akin to anger at it, was she not even allowed the right to choose when she'd die? To choose what- or who- she'd die for?

It was too late either way, she was here now, and whatever Makoto had been carrying, it was her job to take it up now.

A cursory glance to her side showed that she had been the second to wake, Asahina had already roused herself from the drug induced sleep and crossed the room, leaving heavy hearted footprints across the dust. Kyouko tracked those footprints until she finally locked eyes with the woman herself, crouched over as she slowly helped Ryouta to his feet.

"You're up." Asahina noted, her voice devoid of it's usual energy and cheer.

Kyoko said nothing, there was nothing she _could_ say to that empty gaze, restoring hope was Naegi's job.

"-I'm glad, after we couldn't barricade the door, I was worried that when I woke up- _If_ I woke up-"

"Conjecture aside," Kyouko calmly interjected, secretly relieved at the opportunity to steer Asahina away from darker topics, "it appears that none of us were attacked, even with the unlocked door."

Asahina could only stare and shake her head, "You're always so strong at times like this, I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm also rather happy with this development, though it's not as if the door would've helped much anyway,"

"S' right," Ryouta groaned, crawling to his feet. His eyes were still half closed and heavy with fatigue, but his words were relatively clear in spite of it, "The Attck- the attacker- has complete control over the facility while we sleep."

Asahina's eyes widened, her arm moving to protect her stomach on unconscious reflex "But that means that they _chose_ not to come after us!?"

"-Which likely means someone else is dead." Kyouko finished.

"W-we can't know that," Ryouta exclaimed sharply, turning to Kyouko with panic filled his eyes, "Not until we see the body! I mean, the attacker could already be dead!"

"Perhaps..."- _Or maybe there is no Attacker._ Kyouko reasoned silently, thumbing her notebook absentmindedly, _I still need more proof to make such a claim though, it won't do to act on something so insubstantial_. "There is no evidence either way."

"-However, seeing as we _are_ all still alive," Kyouko observed, ignoring the twinge in her chest as she did so, "the latest victim would have to be among Ando, Munakata, Sakakura, or Gekkougahara-"

Asahina stopped her, shaking her head."Not Gekkougahara," she muttered, "I don't know what happened to her, but she's awake during the sleeping times, the attacker could never have killed her, not unless…"

"Wait, wait, wait-" Ryouta exclaimed, his shock and disbelief echoing off the stone walls, "how could Gekkougahara have been awake during the sleeping times?!" his eyes dawned with horror, "Was she the Attacker!?"

"Not the Attacker just... a robot of some kind," Asahina haltingly explained, doing her best to calm Ryouta down, "after her controller left she went berserk or something. Last I saw she was fighting Munakata-" however, just as the swimmer was about to elaborate on what happened next, she was interrupted by the telltale high pitched whine of radio feedback.

Now Kyouko did _not_ count herself a superstitious person, such thoughts clouded the investigation, but even she felt that the way the intercom had flared up at that specific moment was just too convenient, it was as if the broadcast itself had been summoned by Asahina's words.

The logical conclusion was that this was being broadcast due to the passing time limit, perhaps even to gloat. Such claims were worthless next to any hard evidence though, and a message over the broadcast hardly required such dissection.

The broadcasts intention soon became obvious anyway.

"Naegi Makoto," spoke the unmistakeable voice of Kyosuke Munakata, shocking them all with the name of their fallen friend, tearing open wounds that hadn't even begun to heal.

"Have you learned Kyouko Kirigiri's forbidden action? Do you now understand how useless your platitudes are?" The lecture paused for a second, no doubt so that the diatribe would properly pierce through Makoto's skin and into his heart before Munakata issued his final challenge.

"It is time to settle whose hope is right." He proclaimed , "Yours or mine." with that, the broadcast cut off, leaving the three in heavy silence.

Ryouta was the first to break the tension in the air. Cautiously cutting through it as though a single misstep would destroy the world, "I-I suppose that means Gekkougahara has passed on."

"...yes," came Asahina's quiet reply, the woman has curled in on herself at the speech, but now she was looking ahead at the intercom with a torn, but determined look on her face.

Kyouko said nothing, her expression showing nothing. She was the picture of ambivalence, but on the inside she could feel her locked away anger stirring at Munakata's words. His words, so carefully prepared and put together to cut into Makoto, to lure him to a physical confrontation he little to no chance of winning, perhaps even to his death.

It was cruel, and she hated it, hated the idea of her own death being used against her friend- hated the serrated twist that Munakata had applied to her refusal to betray him.

Those words may as well have been a knife. The murder weapon that would slay Naegi Makoto.

 _It's not as though it matters now, though._ she thought bitterly as she stared at her monokuma bracelet, it's strobing red looking almost like an insult, _Makoto's already dead._

He was already dead, and Munakata didn't know, _Which means that, wherever he is, he has no idea of the casualties of the game_. _Not to mention the fact that he isn't here in person, which means, in all probability, he doesn't even know where we are._

Next to her, her associates were already coming to their own conclusions.

"If Munakata is alive, then Gekkougahara is dead," Ryouta said, still unable to look away from the intercom, "That brings the survivors down to the three of us, Munakata, Sakakura, and Ando."

"And there will be at least one more casualty," Kyouko confirmed, turning to look properly at the others "Either the Attacker was killed. Or the Attacker has killed someone else."

"So how can we tell?" Asahina asked, finally looking away from the intercom and glancing at Kyouko.

"We'll have to find and inspect the body."

"With Munakata around?!" Ryouta yelped, staring between her and the door with obvious trepidation.

"If he is expecting ...Makoto to come to him, then he won't move from his location- most likely the broadcasting studio- we should use that to our advantage and go quickly."

Inwardly, Kyouko knew that it was cruel to put them on the spot in such a manner. It made sense to be scared- Munakata was a dangerous enemy- but she _also_ knew that they had no choice but to move forward- and she knew that Ryouta knew that too.

"Well I'm with Kyouko!" Asahina declared, surprising them both with the forcefulness of her statement as she took her place by the detective's side, " She's my friend, and I _won't_ abandon her just because of Munakata."

"Asahina-" Kyouko started, intending to remind Asahina that she was under no obligation to follow her into danger. But before she could even begin Asahina had wrapped her in a fierce hug.

Kyouko felt ashamed for almost shaking her off, it had been her gut reaction to such close contact, but now that she could see the tears in Asahina's eyes- feel their wetness on her own face as if they were her own, she couldn't bear to do it.

Now that she knew the stress that the Woman had been suffering under, Kyouko only felt ashamed at her own uselessness- at her inability to comfort Asahina in her time of need. Asahina may not have been her subordinate- but Kyouko still had a duty to protect her as her friend, yet here Asahina stood, crying into her shoulder because there was no one else's to cry into, because the only "else" in question was dead because of her failures.

The least she could do was allow her friend a moment of warmth- if she was even capable of it.

Kyouko lost track of how long the hug lasted- logically, it couldn't have been too long, but it had felt like hours until Asahina finally released her.

"I-I trust you Kyouko, and I don't want to take my eyes off a friend ever again" She had said, giving Kyouko's shoulders a squeeze with one hand and wiping her own tear stained face with the other. "So I'll stay. No matter what."

"...Thank you." It was all Kyouko could muster. After a hug like that- a display of such affection and support- she was a little overwhelmed. Maybe she should've expected it, this _was_ Asahina, but with the way she'd been acting… well, Kyouko supposed she was just glad that she was back to her usual self.

"What about you, Mitarai?" Asahina asked, turning on her boots to face Ryouta. The man was startled by the sudden inquiry, having turned away from such a personal moment to tap desperately at his phone.

"Mitarai." Asahina repeated, running up to him and asking in the way that only Asahina could- the way where you couldn't refuse without feeling for all the world like you'd just kicked a small animal, "Are you coming?"

"O-Of course!" Ryouta stammered, evidently holding little hatred for woodland creatures (Kyouko could empathize,) "I-I have to be strong too…"

Though he said that, Kyouko could see from the tensing of his shoulders, from the dread in his gaze, that Ryouta was holding the fear down and mustering all his bravery. Like so many other times this day, she noted that he was far stronger than he gave himself credit for.

Watching them like that, Asahina trying hard to find her sun again, and Ryouta having been emboldened by her light, Kyouko couldn't help but smile a little. Despite everything that had happened, and the body that lay just in the next corridor, she still had these two beside her, to stand with her, and help her make sure this wouldn't end on any other terms but theirs. No matter how cold she might have seemed, she was glad for them.

Detectives almost never worked alone, after all.

* * *

Woof this ended up being long... almost broke my self imposed limit. Maybe I should just ignore the limits and quit when i feel like it.

(so long and yet it still feels ooc. Sigh.)

Anyway thanks for the reviews Fallenstreet01, Hunter of comedy, Iariz and Electricangel12! I'm glad you all like it.

Thanks to all the favouriters and followers as well! I was shocked at the support! I wasn't even expecting 1 really! I hope I can make your days better!

And in case any were wondering, I will continue this until it ends, it will probably have some pauses that are longer than others because college and art, but it WILL be happening.


	4. Never be Shaken

I don't own danganronpa or it's characters.

* * *

Walking through the underwater fortress was nerve wracking. The darkness was so all consuming, silence so complete that just the sound of the three's footfalls sent shivers up Kyouko's spine.

Kyouko had known many people who had killed their fear, they thought it was too much trouble to be worth it, but she had always held it close. Fear was important- if she really planned to survive it would be necessary to know when to run or fight.

Fear was important- fear and hope. They drove people forwards. Hope that the future would be worth all the suffering, and fear that just giving up on hope would lead to something even more painful than loss in this despair ridden world.

Without fear or hope, people may as well just die, without them they probably _would_ die.

That wasn't to say that Kyouko didn't _understand_ why someone would want to suppress their fears. She was well aware that, at many times, fear could become a problem in itself. It clouded the mind, conjured nightmares from every shadow, terrors from every waking dream. It could become so disruptive, that only when you turned it off could you concentrate on the reality around you- and when there were investigations to be done, she did.

But now was not an investigation. Now was a desperate struggle against forces she knew were out to drive her into the ground, so even though it may have been tempting to throw all the fear away, she resisted, because in times like these, fear was both necessary and almost certainly justified.

So Kyouko persisted, hoping that no one could see past her facade, to feel the paranoia crowding in her mind. Ryouta and Asahina were counting on her to guide them to the end of this game, and she couldn't show weakness until that time had come.

Besides, there was enough fear to go round already, Ryouta had already run off the any bravado he'd summoned, and was becoming as taut as a wire. Kyouko, though uncomfortable with filling the air with words when the enemy's footfalls were all the warning they could count on- could still see that his building stress required immediate attention. The last thing they needed was for him to clam up on himself as soon as things got hectic, and right now he seemed to be higher strung than a violin.

"Do you want to stop for a moment, Mitarai?" She said gently, hoping to give him a chance to calm down.

"What!?" he squawked, her offer flinching him so badly that he toppled back into Asahina, landing the pair in a tangle of limbs on the floor.

Kyouko stared, two minutes later, when they finally managed to extricate themselves from each other and the floor, she was still staring.

He fidgeted under her gaze, "...What I meant to say is- you wouldn't mind?"

"...We still have plenty of time before the next sleeping phase, we can spare a few minutes."

To be honest, Kyouko was all too onboard with giving him a chance to calm his nerves after that display. Him falling into Asahina was bad enough already- if it had been Sakakura to scare him, they may as well have surrendered their lives right then.

Ryouta didn't see it that way though,"But we don't even know where the victim died," He pointed out, hesitant, "for all we know, all the time in the world won't be enough to find them!"

"Which is why we're heading to security, right Kyouko?" Asahina chimed in, dusting herself where she'd fallen, "if we can set up all the camera feeds, we can find the victim without being there in person."

"But what if Munakata or Sakakura head us off there? Wouldn't they expect us to go to such a vital location? Every second could count!" Ryouta was almost panicking now, the image of those two seasoned fighters an intimidating one. But the image of himself being the reason for their failure even more so.

Kyouko could understand the feeling not wanting to be a burden, she felt it herself at times, but Ryouta seemed far too harsh on himself, to the point of irrationality. It was obvious that his tension was going to cause problems in the future, but he still refused to calm down.

Kyouko needed to assuage those fears somehow, but with Ryouta it seemed beyond her.

Nevertheless, she had to try. This was her responsibility now.

 _Ha, when did I start to think of this as a responsibility._

"Munakata doesn't know how far... Naegi could be from his location," Kyouko pointed out, holding back a wince at the poisoned memories that Makoto's name brought forth. "It would be pointless for him to leave and miss Naegi, so he'll give us more than enough time."

"And if he sent Sakakura to the security room? He could've been-"

"-Well we don't have any better ideas." Asahina interrupted him, preventing Kyouko from trying to argue any further, "We may as well cross that bridge when we come to it."

" _If_ we come to it." Kyouko corrected.

"-Like she said! _If_ we come to it!" Asahina repeated, "He might not even be there!"

"Honestly" Asahina eventually continued, her voice gentle in a way Kyouko couldn't hope to imitate, not with her heart sealed off like it was, "You shouldn't worry, Ryouta, just take a moment if you have to. We can wait."

If only she _could_ imitate it. Ryouta seemed so much more at ease with Asahina's cautious smile than Kyoko's coldness.

"In that case," he requested sheepishly, "could we keep going a little longer? I actually need to go to the restroom."

* * *

"I mean, Munakata may want to kill us all, but at least he was sensible enough to put multiple bathrooms on every floor!"

Kyouko sighed from her place on the wall. "That's fairly common, Asahina."

"Not at my sunday swimming school," Asahina declared, shaking her head, "they only had one bathroom in the entire complex! It was a _nightmare_!"

"That does seem odd." Kyouko admitted. Considering that Asahina was the ultimate swimmer, Kyouko had assumed that she had gone to the best school possible- no she probably had, it was more likely that architectural sense simply didn't count towards one's rationality.

After all, despite what Asahina might've said, Kyouko couldn't imagine there was anything entirely rational in Munakata's head right now. Not when he'd been trying to kill all of them for the past half day.

True, he may have thought they were all traitors- it may have even seemed reasonable to him, but the fact remained that he hadn't even attempted negotiation before starting the execution- those were _not_ the actions of a stable person.

Then again, the future foundation had always been the closest to despair, perhaps this was only natural.

Living in a world of constant fear and pain would change anyone. When everything, from the red skies to the broken skyline, to the starving people, to the endless murders, to the riots, to the fires, to the battles- day after day, the battles- it just- it all seemed tailor made to crush a person, bleed them dry from inside out- and she couldn't expect _anyone_ to come out of that alright. Anyone except Makoto.

Kyouko still found it amazing how he had managed to maintain hope in the midst of all that, so much hope that he'd even had some to spare, enough to raise the spirits of the entire world.

Now he was gone, and Kyouko could only hope that whatever strength she could provide would be enough to get just Ryouta and Asahina through the rest of this day. Not to mention herself.

She didn't think past that, she didn't want to, the future was too uncertain now, and all her deductive reasoning wouldn't chart her course through the despair the way Makoto had.

He'd been a star, when you looked at him, nothing could go wrong.

Perhaps she should've never looked away. Then maybe it would never have happened, if she had only stopped him from running into that hallway-

"-Hey Kyouko! are you listening?"

Asahina's unexpectedly loud voice startled Kyouko from her reverie, the foul air and broken skyline melting away until she was left with nothing but her friends worried face.

 _How hypocritical_ , She thought, _For someone who was berating Ryouta for not paying attention to his surroundings, I was more unaware than he was._

"Sorry," She murmured, truly apologetic for having disrespected Asahina like that, "I'm afraid not. There's… a lot on my mind."

Thankfully, Asahina didn't seem offended in the least, "Oh no, it's fine, it's fine- I suppose it was rather inane, after all."

Kyouko's brow furrowed at her friends embarrassed tone, "That's not-"

"Like I said, it's fine," Asahina chuckled "I wanted to ask you about something anyway."

"Of course," Kyouko agreed. Glad for the chance to redeem herself, she pushed off the wall and turned to give Asahina her undivided attention, "feel free."

"Are you sure?" Her friend asked again, her face and voice becoming serious, "You know that you don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

Kyouko didn't know how to feel about the direction this conversation was going, Asahina was her friend, of course, but the dark tone of her voice was worrying. It sounded like she _expected_ Kyouko to have reservations, and a part of her felt leery at what the subject matter could be, that she would think so.

Even so, she was her friend, and if there was something that she wished to know, then Kyouko felt she owed it to her, for everything she'd done over these past few years- even these past few hours.

For having hope in that final trial, for doing her part to help fix this world for all of them, for protecting Naegi even when it was dangerous, for being there for Kyouko when she needed it most.

Yes, reservations meant little in the face of all that.

"Ask me anything,"

"If you're sure… then what was Munakata talking about when he mentioned your NG code?"

* * *

Thanks for all the support everyone!

Sorry if this is too slow, its a drawback for trying to limit word count, and I don't like posting until the next chapter is at least in the editing stage.


	5. Dead Ends

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa or anything.

* * *

"What was Munakata talking about when he mentioned your NG code?"

Kyouko stiffened, of all the questions she had been expecting, it hadn't been that.

She'd pushed most of the broadcast out of her mind, actually- it filled her with too much anger, and anger interfered with judgement in a way that could be dangerous- _especially_ when it was directed at a person you could never, ever win against.

On the other hand, it wasn't a hard question to answer. It wasn't like she had any reason to hide it anymore. Wordlessly, she held out her bracelet to Asahina, letting the red lights speak for themselves.

"Passing the fourth Sleeping Phase with Makoto Naegi still alive".

Asahina stared, completely still, Kyouko watched her eyes move, pass over the red over and over again as though she was having difficulty believing that that was really there.

"Th-that's so unfair…" She stammered, tears building at the corners of her eyes.

Kyouko looked at the floor, shamefully unable to look into her eyes "This whole game was stacked against us from the start." she said bitterly, "It wasn't going to start being fair."

"I know," Asahina responded, her voice making that inevitable crack, "I know- but it's just so- why?"

"They wanted despair." Kyouko said simply, "or perhaps they hated me," _or Makoto_.

Asahina merely shook her head, though Kyouko couldn't tell at what, was she shaking it at her? Or despair? Or maybe the entire world? It wouldn't make a difference.

Sometimes she felt the same way. When she found in herself the strength to look back and replay those moments, she couldn't help but feel spiteful towards the mastermind who planned this, angry at the world for falling to despair and forcing her into these situations, but most of all she felt guilty at her own secrecy.

 _-I had an antidote, if I'd just told him outright he might not have-_

 _-But I had no idea if it would work or not, I couldn't risk it-_

 _-but I did risk it! I kept it all to myself, kept it secret, and when he found out, he didn't even know the most important thing- that I might've survived-_

 _-And then he didn't_

She could feel the antidote in her pocket, in fact. It couldn't have been too, heavy, small as it was, but at times it felt like she was carrying the entire world around.

 _You're worthless to me_ , she thought, glaring at the thing, _my forbidden action won't ever activate. Not ever._

But it wasn't right. Blaming inanimate objects was ridiculous already. Blaming inanimate objects for her own failures was just cowardly.

It took a world of effort, or maybe courage, for Kyouko to turn back to Asahina again, to turn away from her wallowing to the reality at hand, but she was worried about her, so she made do.

Unlike Ryouta, she already knew Asahina's Ng code, and she knew just how dangerous it was. "Getting hit by a punch or kick"- with an action like that, it would be far too easy- to likely for her to die.

She wouldn't lose another friend to that, she never wanted to look at one of those blood stained faces again. She'd give it to her. Right now.

Or she would've, had she had the chance to before Asahina continued.

"I suppose we know why Naegi ran into that hallway, now."

It struck Kyouko cold, she didn't want to talk about that at all. "Ah- I suppose," Kyouko said faintly, "Asahina I have something-"

"That must be why you didn't try to investigate-" The swimmer realised, "to find out why I mean- you must've realized!"

"I- yes," Kyouko answered, looking at the floor again, "There was no mystery." _-It was all my fault. If only I was willing to tell you that._

"I knew he'd never lose hope!" Asahina breathed, eyes flitting to Kyouko, "he did it for you."

"He shouldn't have," Kyouko muttered, still looking at the floor, "The world needed Naegi."

Asahina took concern at her tone."You shouldn't say things like that," She said gently, "the world needs you too you know."

Kyouko turned her head up and stared at her friend, "Not as much," she sighed, heart heavy, whatever Asahina might wish, there were no mysteries in the world to solve right now, everyone already knew what caused the despair, the question was how to fight it.

Looking at devastation and taking it apart, now that Kyouko could do, but she knew it was pointless. if analyzing destruction was all it took to bring hope, then the tragedy would've perished in it's infancy.

Makoto had known how to fight. How to plant the seeds of hope and cultivate the light that would end despair. He may not have been able to fight like Munakata, and he may not have been the most logical at times, but he'd known what needed to be done. Known better than all of them how to fix the world and it's people.

"The people," she repeated to herself, grumbling as she thought back on the blank masses who had populated the world after that fateful tragedy. They been hit hardest by despair, driven so far their eyes were more empty than the soulless buttons of the monokuma masks.

They'd come so far since then. Just yesterday she'd seen an actual picnic and now-

"-What will they think of all this," she muttered, "Makoto was their hope, I can't imagine the effect his death will have."

"It could revitalise despair."

Kyouko watched from the corner of her eyes as Asahina leapt a meter from the floor, her jaw almost dropped at the absurdity of it, snapping her from her fugue, if only for a second.

 _So swimming practice doubles as training for the high jump- interesting._

Startled, Ryouta backpedalled away from the flying swimmer, "I'm sorry- Did I surprise you?"

"No." Kyouko deadpanned.

"Speak for yourself Kyouko!" Asahina squeaked, missing the point somewhat- as she descended to the floor.

"Well I admit I Didn't see you there Mitarai." Kyouko shrugged, watching as Ryouta walked to stand closer to Asahina, _I really should pay more attention to my surroundings. I'm a detective._

"I should've announced myself sooner," he apologized.

Kyouko shook her head, "That's not important, was there something you were going to say?"

"About despair?"

"You said this would revitalize it. What did you mean?"

"Well, aside from taking revenge on Enoshima's killer, this is like the ultimate win for despair. Despair is defeated by hope, and just as the war is winding down, despair defeats hope in front of everyone." He explained, looking quite uncomfortable at the prospect. "To say nothing of the effects that losing most of our leadership will have on our own troops- despair is probably cheering right now!"

"But it's not a live broadcast!" Asahina interrupted, "Togami said so when we spoke last!"

"It doesn't matter," Ryouta responded bitterly, face growing dark, "Half our leadership- plus the ultimate hope- have passed on. Even if mine and Kirigiri's divisions teamed up, we could never keep it quiet."

He gave a slight pause, and looked directly at Kyouko, his own eyes staring into hers, "People can't keep hope without the future foundation," he told her- and Kyouko was not sure she liked the despondent certainty in his eyes when he said so- "This is the end for hope."

There was quiet in the minutes that followed, Asahina,struck silent by Ryouta's proclamation, while Kyouko only considered his words carefully.

It was certainly true that they could never hush up what had happened, and the events would cause mass panic among the people.

They'd taken hits to agriculture, intelligence, cyber security, medicine, administration- from a practical standpoint, the future foundation had been decapitated, and it would only worse if this game somehow claimed Ando, Sakakura or Munakata.

With the defeat of Monaca Towa, despair would have returned to it's chaotic, disorganized state. It made them easy enough to ward off, but it also meant they would continue one even without the remnants, the same couldn't be said for the future foundation. From all standpoints, the flow of power had changed.

Even so, no matter what, they couldn't give up- there were no grounds to give up. They had to carry hope through this, and make the afterwards that they had all been waiting for. For those who couldn't experience it with them, and for themselves.

Whether or not she agreed with what Naegi had done, the fact was that he had died for her because he believed in her the way she'd believed in him, and she would not betray that trust again.

She needed to find a way out, the thread to unravel this plan of despair. It was in the monitors, she was almost sure. If her theory about the monitors was correct then the future foundation wasn't entirely at fault for their actions. Freeing the members of their implications wouldn't stop the discord, but it would limit it.

For that, she needed evidence, at this point, it was only conjecture, and she couldn't bet anything on that.

One thing was for sure though, "We must prevent casualties as best we can. Now, let's go."

* * *

The security room was empty, no Munakata, no Sakakura, no Ando. Just quiet. It filled Kyouko with a sense of relief to see it.

They still couldn't relax though, anyone could come in at any moment. They needed to work quickly, move quickly.

Well, Ryouta needed to move quickly, neither Asahina nor Kyouko had any of the passwords or clearance to operate the security system, so instead the two took to lingering in the corner.

 _I suppose now is as good a time as ever._

"Asahina?" She asked.

"Yes Kyouko?"

"There's something I want to give you." Kyouko explained, reaching into her coat and pulling out Cure W.

It took a moment for Asahina to register the object, but when she did her response was immediate. "That's- Is that the medicine that Kimura made?" She asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, I intended to take it before the fourth time limit." Kyouko confirmed, downcast, "But that's not necessary anymore, as you can imagine."

Kyouko held out the tiny bottle, the edge between life and death. Asahina didn't need any more explanation than that.

Asahina took the bottle, though hesitantly, "What about Mitarai," she said, eyes shifting to his back, "Why me and not him?"

"I don't know what his NG code is," Kyouko explained, "and whatever it is, it can't possibly be more unfair than yours."

Asahina noticed the repetition, and looked at the bottle in gloomy silence, "Why didn't you tell Naegi?"

"I didn't know whether the cure would work or not, it seemed safer this way." _Or it did at the time._

Asahina looked at her for a moment, a long probing look, and Kyouko felt just a little unnerved, before she realized that whatever Asahina was thinking was probably right to think.

But then the swimmer only nodded, stowing the bottle away in her coat, though she seemed a little guilty at not telling Ryouta.

Kyouko almost sighed in relief, "Just remember," she reminded, "if you plan on using it, you need to use it before your code is activated."

Asahina gave a grunt of affirmation, and the two stood in silence until the room lit up with static and white.

"I'm done," Ryouta called, rather redundantly.

"Anything weird!?" Asahina called back, running closer to the monitors in search of any clues.

"Well, there is something," he noted, "not a single person who was attacked has died offscreen."

So those parts of my investigations were correct, thought Kyouko, "Can you see Munakata or Sakakura?" She asked.

"Munakata's on camera 29," Asahina supplied, gesturing to the monitor in question. "Sakakura doesn't seem to be on screen right now."

Kyouko nodded, "Then we should start playing the monitors backwards to see the methods of the murders-"

-A chair crashed against the floor, it's clatter punctuated by Ryouta's sharp cries.

Kyouko's head snapped over, fear pulsing through her at the prospect of him being injured. But no one was injured, it was something else that was important. It was then that three noteworthy things became obvious.

First, Asahina was also shocked, her face was pale, and her eyes were wide with horror.

Two, Ryouta was currently on the floor, shaking and unable to pull his eyes from the screen on camera 44.

And finally, that Ando was barely Ando anymore, and she'd gone out screaming.

 _What a cruel method of murder._

* * *

brain: You know whats a good idea!

me: you never have good ideas.

brain: You'll love this one!

me: I doubt that.

brain: You should...

me: here it comes.

brain: START A COMPLETELY NEW FIC ON TOP OF YOUR TWO EXISTING ONES EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE SLOW ENOUGH ALREADY AS IS :DDDDDD

me: exhibit a

So anyway, you can expect me to be a little more slow I'm afraid, but it'll still be a thing. I have resolve!

Thanks for all the support everyone!


	6. Curse

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

Stabbed through the heart with the signature knife- _A clear sign of the attacker's work_.

No signs of a struggle despite mutilation to all extremities. _Open eyes, she was awake_.

Blood on the right hand, in spite of it having not been wounded. _From where_.

Choked and surrounded by personal confections, despite her consciousness she did not attempt to spit of retch. This implies that either the killer restrained her or she was already dead when the candies were stuffed down. _What happened to the gag reflex_.

For a murder, it made no sense, what kind of person would just sit there as they were murdered in such a prolonged and brutal fashion. It was as though Ando had been almost… suicidal.

Or perhap Kyouko was just biased, wishing for the answer so much she was jumping to conclusions, seeking an easy way out of an uneasy game.

 _That's unacceptable_ , she thought, shaking her head as she turned from the grisly scene to the monitor itself. She was sure it was the culprit, after all, every single person who had died from the attacker had been in view of the monitor. But even with all that evidence, she needed to be absolutely decisive before she could say so.

They needed evidence, the final nail in this games coffin, they needed to see Ando's death.

The end had come, she would hoist the game by it's own knife.

"Lets replay the video backwards," Kyouko said, ignoring the choked noises emanating from Ryouta.

"She-She-" He stuttered, his eyes shifting over the lacerations, the candy, the bloodshot eyes- widening with every second that passed "-she-"

Kyouko coldly finished the thought for him, "She was tortured."

"I- I _know_ that!" He snapped, whipping his head around to glare at her, "I want to know why! Why it happened like that and why you never seem to care about how the future is dead! You never seem to care about _anything_!"

Kyouko received his outburst silently. Truthfully, although she was a little shocked at the accusation, she couldn't say it was unexpected. It wasn't unfamiliar, Ryouta himself had accused her of it three times today, but he'd never come out and outright taken offense until now. Not after Kizakura, and not after Makoto.

If anything, he should've said it then, but no, he'd said it about _Ando_.

The thought filled her with an unexpected stab of spite, and Kyouko could only dryly wonder what exactly he was expecting at this point.

Either way, she didn't have time for it right now, she could explain herself later.

She turned to the- hopefully more receptive- member of their trio, "Asahina," she asked, keeping her voice level, "could you play the video backwards?"

Asahina bit her lip, "I-I'm not sure if we should do this while Mitarai is around." Her friend stammered, giving Ryouta an empathetic look and a hand off the floor.

Kyouko watched the two, taking in their pale faces, and the way that Ryouta stumbled as he was pulled himself up. She saw it and accepted the fact that Asahina was probably right.

If just looking at the victim was enough to drain the life out of them, to fracture them, then watching it happen, analyzing the details and hearing the death throes… Ryouta didn't have the stomach for it, she wouldn't be surprised if he threw up, or worse, fainted, maybe even Asahina too.

Not everyone had seen worse, not everyone was like her. Even in this cruel world there was still an innocence that hadn't been breached yet. Some things were not for the eyes of others.

She reminded herself of that fact as she watched the two retreat from the room, but even so she couldn't help but feel they were being unreasonable. It was Ando, after all, she'd tried to kill them, had killed Kizakura. She'd betrayed the person closest to her and was planning on overthrowing the foundation.

She couldn't even be called an ally, less so a friend- only a liability, so why did they care so much what happened to her? So many had died already, and she held the key to making sure that such fates didn't repeat themselves.

Even so, a part of her couldn't help but think that maybe it was her, that maybe she was just too cold.

But it didn't matter right now. Being cold meant being unshakeable, and that was too much to give up right now.

She waited till the two had left the room, ignoring Ryouta's eerie stare as they did so, until she heard the door slamming behind them in a statement of… something - anger? Fear maybe?

Whatever emotions they had been, it was too late to deal with it now. They could think whatever they wanted just so long as they got out of here, all three of them. She didn't care anymore.

She flicked on the audio before watching, just in case Ando said something important, and pressed the rewind.

Back by 2x, then 3x, then 1x. Back it went, jumping, scratching and fading out, the room around the woman's corpse still and silent as the depths of the ocean, the only movement the slow receding blood that lined the floor.

The time stamp raced by, 20 to 15, 15 to 10, 10 to 5, until the floor was unsullied, all except Ando.

Then at 5 minutes, it happened. The first movement, a single twitch of the fingers, a fluttering of eyes- then her mouth opened in a garbled inverted scream as she pulled the blade from her heart, the bloodstains falling off her hands until they were clean of spattered red-

Kyouko paused the video.

Her reason was quite simple. At that point there was no point in watching it. The suicide had been confirmed. She could make enough educated assumptions about what had happened next. Likely the women had caused her own lacerations and stuffed her throat before fatally stabbing herself, perhaps even ritualistically laying the candies around herself in her insanity.

It was pointless. The method of death was pointless compared to why she had died. What had driven her to do such a thing. To commit such a violent death, to perform such cruelty on herself.

She rewound to the beginning, paying no heed to the erratic movements of Ando's body as she performed the fourth attack, until she saw the girl resting during the fourth sleeping phase.

That was when she heard the monokuma jingle.

For a moment, she couldn't believe her ears. Monokuma was playing the jingle? Really?

Then she realized it was probably entirely in character for the bear. They'd certainly been smug enough before. She wouldn't be surprised if monokuma wanted the last thing they heard to be their own villainous theme song.

But it wouldn't be the jingle, would it? She was playing this backwards, so it would be a backwards jingle. Why would it be a backwards jingle? There was something at work here.

"I should really be asking Ryouta this." she muttered. "It would probably be in his field."

Not that she really felt like seeing Ryouta right now, or bringing him into this room.

Still, she couldn't help that last nagging thought in her head. _Why? Why would Ando do that?_

None of the other victims had died in such a cruel manner, in such a savage way. Why Ando? Was there something different with the technique that had been used? Something that had made it even more brutal than usual?

She thought of Asahina lying on the floor like that, surrounded by sick tools of murder, cuts everywhere, mouth open in a scream and she just _couldn't_ leave. Any of them could fall prey to that, she couldn't allow it.

She needed to find out why.

Without a moment's more hesitation, Kyouko pressed play, regular speed, and watched it all unfold.

* * *

welp, there it is. Enjoy I guess. Lets hope the next chapter doesn't take too long. But considering PSAT is soon, I think that might be tough.

Thanks again for all the support. Digital hugs for everyone!


	7. Prayer

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

Content warning. Not very graphic but maiming is still a thing.

* * *

It began with light- a weak blue haze from the projector that cast lazy shadows on Ando's sleeping form.

Watching her, it occurred to Kyouko that Ando looked very different asleep, especially when compared to her death.

She looked like she didn't have a care in the world, sleeping like a kitten even though the room around her had been wrecked and destroyed by the events of the day. The contrast between her peaceful expression and the oppressive surroundings was almost surreal.

She supposed it made sense though, sleep was a retreat after all. An escape from the stress of reality into the a dark place of dreams where nothing could disturb you. Even if there were no dreams to be had, it appeared it was still a time of rest- the kind of state you'd want to die in.

Looking at her sleeping face like this, even Kyouko had to admit that she seemed nothing like the resentful murderer who had killed Kizakura, who had killed Izayoi. Who would have killed them all to save her own hide.

She looked vulnerable- defenseless. Probably because she was.

Then the monitor laughed his hello, and the slow movements of Ando's breathing stopped. Her panicked stillness and wide, reflective eyes the only sign that she had awoken.

"Attacker, are you awake?" Monokuma crooned, sending Ando scrambling off the floor, the realization that she was in danger sweeping over her and draining her blood.

"It's attackin time. Now who's the target for today?"

"No," she whispered, looking around with panicked eyes "no no no no no no no. I was going to _live_. I was going to live. I was going to-"

"I was going to live." Adno whispered that phrase over and over, covering her ears as though it would drown out the monitor horrible noises. As though her pleadings were going to save her from the inevitable truth of what was about to happen.

It was pathetic really, pathetic and piteous, but it was normal. People didn't face their deaths with dignity unless they were people like Makoto. They fought and pleaded because death was terrifying and they weren't ready for it.

Kyouko _had_ been ready for it, now she wasn't ready for anything. She wasn't ready for anything anymore, and the realization sent as much of a cold shock through her as the fact that she could _understand_ the look on Ando's face- that she could understand anything about her after what she'd done.

She'd tried to kill Kyouko, and she'd smiled while she'd done it, she had shown herself to be selfish, mistrustful and treacherous. She'd shown herself to be all of that with such an assured expression on her face, but there were no smiles now, just a helpless woman who was terrified that she was going to die alone.

Kyouko watched, and felt a tiny pit of dread open when the scenery turned red. Ando stared transfixed into the screen, eyes opening wider and wider with horror as the backwards jingle continued playing.

Then it happened, Ando screamed for a full minute. Screamed until her throat was to raw to scream anymore and it died away into ragged gasps.

There was a clatter on the floor, a metallic clang that Ando searched out and gripped in pale hands.

Then she stared, unblinking, unending into the monitor. A knife held in her hands, and tears in her crazed eyes.

"I'm sorry Seiko chan. I'm sorry Yoi-Chan."

She sobbed as she drew the knife across both of her arms. She smiled too- somewhat paradoxically- a lopsided grin which Kyouko had never seen on the woman, not even when she'd been attempting to murder her.

It was a despairing grin, an absurd happiness at the breaking of one's own heart. A terrifying thing that spread a cold feeling in Kyouko's chest.

She'd seen it. Many, many times, but now, seeing someone she'd known -even if only on a professional level- wear it made her acutely aware of how _wrong_ it was.

If this was what the future foundation saw whenever they met another human being- what Ryouta saw whenever he met the ultimate despair- she could understand their fanaticism, if only a bit.

By the time Ando had sliced at her legs, the tears had mixed with the blood running down her profile, clearing tracks along her cheeks- _How did I miss those_?- and the blade had been dyed red with blood.

Ando didn't seem to feel the pain, at least not in a discomforting way, if anything she found it hilarious. She laughed like a madman, throwing her red stained candies out around her, giggling as it rained in multicoloured piles around her.

"I'm sorry Seiko chan. I'm sorry Yoi chan." she laughed, over and over as she tossed and cut, only pausing in her pleas to stuff her own throat with candies.

"Is this what it was like Yoi chan? Is this better for you?" She choked, a somewhat ill considered move, as it only led to the candies falling out of her mouth as she cried into the cold ground.

For a whole minute she'd cried, wrenching sobs that tore through the room. Then she'd stopped, raised the knife just above her heart, taken a single long look at the monitor, and plunged.

She didn't stop looking at the monitor for the next five seconds, only breaking contact when her eyes rolled back and she collapsed backwards into the unforgiving cement floor.

Five seconds had been enough for Kyouko to realize that she wasn't smiling anymore, had been enough to see that the only thing left in her eyes was regret and disgust at her own actions.

The video ended, it played still, but there was no movement, only deafening silence.

Kyouko didn't cry, or even blink.

She'd come to a realization during the video. A realization that Ryouta may have been right. A realization that she'd criminally misunderstood Ruruka Ando.

No, that wasn't it, Ando had done detestable things, some resentment was understandable.

But no one deserved that death, it unnerved Kyouko to realize that she hadn't understood that until she'd seen it happen in detail. That she hadn't held an ounce of pity for someone who'd been tortured, choked and brutalized.

Pity, nervousness, resentment. These weren't things that detectives like Kyouko were supposed to feel. They were supposed to _understand_ them, of course, but never feel them. Emotions gave rise to preconceptions, made one overlook details such as tear tracks and broken hearts. Prevented rescues and justice and above all the truth.

The truth was sacred, and to find it they had to acknowledge that emotions made people tick, an irreplaceable part of the equation that was a crime. But they were never supposed to look past the knowledge and facts for the sake of their own grudges.

Kyouko had failed at that, she had felt resentment, towards her father, towards despair and now towards Ruruka. She was ashamed of it, but the shame itself was also a problem.

Shame and pity, she'd failed so utterly in feeling those, yet she couldn't say that she was disappointed in herself, because now she realized her flaws. Because without shame and pity she'd never have realized the injustices she'd been committing against others.

 _Ruruka Ando_ , she thought begrudgingly, staring at the still body of the girl who'd attempted to end her life, _I may not ever completely forgive you for what you've done, but, for what it's worth, I understand now._

 _I'll come back for you. When this is all over, and I've had time to sort things out._

She got up, she walked to the door.

 _If I buried you next to Izayoi, would you be okay with that?_

The dead didn't answer of course, but she said it nonetheless,because they deserved it.

Some would say that the emotions she was feeling were folly for a detective in service to truth, but Kyouko was not in service to truth anymore. She was in service to hope, so she needed to hope as well from now on.

She breathed, she thought, she let forth a single prayer for the people who had lost their lives in this building, in this war.

She opened the door.

* * *

I had a hard time editing the scene with Ruruka, because I felt uncomfortable reading it, that's either because it was cringey (most likely) or effective. (hopefully?)

anyway, see you next time. I hope you like it!


	8. Tangent

Disclaimer: i do not own Danganronpa

* * *

"I understand why she's like this, but I just can't- Don't you think this is wrong, Asahina?"

"Kyouko is hurting too," Asahina sighed, "she's just not as comfortable expressing it."

Ryouta scoffed, "I doubt she was _that_ upset about Ando, you saw the way she was."

Naturally, she took offense to that,"Kyouko's not the kind of person who would be happy about something like that, trust me! I know her!"

Well, Ryouta had to admit that the detective in question had seemed at least a little saddened by Naegi's passing, even if she'd hid it supremely well.

But that was why it was so wrong that she'd acted like that! She knew just how terrible a thing death was- she'd felt it herself! -but she didn't seem to care if it happened to others.

No, it was more than that, she'd been outright cold. No sympathy whatsoever. He understood why, on some level, she'd acted like that- but it was still wrong. No matter what Ando had done, she hadn't deserved to die. Not like that. Not by being _mauled_.

Any reasonable person would understand that- and honestly Kyouko had proven that she was plenty reasonable until now, so she ought to have understood that too.

A part of him thought that maybe it was him who was being unreasonable? But no, he couldn't admit that.

 _Can't admit what?_ His mind thought venomously, _That she's actually doing something helpful while you're stuck here watching everything fall apart?_

Ryouta sighed, pushing the voice to the back of his mind. It was a shameful thing to do, since he couldn't really deny that the thought was right.

Even if she was cold, Kyouko was doing more than him. Even if he was being disrespectful, she was fixing the world. What had he achieved in comparison to that?

 _It's your fault everything's like this anyway. If anyone can fix your mess, than you don't have the right to look down on them for it._

Yes, even though he hated giving ground to such thoughts, he had to admit that this whole despairing world was of his making, a result of his arrogance and naivete. It was his fault for being so easily lied to, his fault for being too cowardly to stand up to Enoshima once she'd done that to Mikan.

He'd wanted to make up for it, wanted to never run away again. Never wanted to betray and destroy the lives of anyone else, not after what had happened to his friends. But he couldn't help it, he was weak willed and weak bodied and even now he was still running away from the recording in that room.

How pathetic, when you looked at it that way, Kyouko was far more admirable than him, even if she didn't even have the decency to sympathize with someone who had been tortured.

Not that it mattered what he thought of her anyway. The future foundation had fallen, the ultimate hope had given up his life.

All hope was lost. The only thing left was for this game to end. So that he could take that bracelet off and try and save the world.

There was only one way left.

* * *

Kyouko was _not_ heartless. Asahina knew that for a fact. She might not have been in the same division as Kyouko, but she knew her from her time in the first killing game, and she knew that she felt just as much as any of them.

Because Asahina had seen her feel. Whether it was her hope during the final trial, or her drive following the 5th trial, or the small lights of happiness that lit up her eyes when Naegi was with her.

Naegi...Asahina wondered if Kyouko's eyes would light like that again now that all this had happened.

She still regretted not being there by the door, if she'd only managed to stop Naegi from running out of that room, he would still be alive.

She'd thought of that possibility for so long, of the happiness she'd stolen from her friends and the light she'd stolen from Kyouko, and a resolve had formed in her mind.

 _Even if I die, I won't allow that to happen again._

Later, Kyouko had explained her NG code to her, and Asahina had reached, for just a moment, something almost like despair.

Kyouko couldn't live past the fourth time limit while Naegi was alive. No matter what had happened in that room, she'd have lost a friend by the end. This game was rigged from the start and it was so, _so_ unfair.

For a moment she'd forgotten the guilt, been vindicated by the coursing spite that she felt towards the mastermind, been silenced by the grief she'd found, but also acceptance of her powerlessness. It felt freeing.

Then she'd found out about the cure, and she'd realized that there was still a world to fall out from under her.

More than Kyouko's secrecy, more than the flash of guilt that had shone in her eye in that moment, it had been the sting of her own failures that had torn Asahina up inside and set all the scabbing wounds to bleeding.

 _I could have had both- If only I'd been faster I could have had both!_

She couldn't forgive herself.

Kyouk had given her the cure then. Asahina supposed she was grateful for that, because she already knew that if anyone tried to attack Kyouko, she'd've taken the hit.

It was almost like her life was preemptively being saved.

 _I guess it just shows that Kyouko cares,_ she thought _, otherwise she would never have shown me that cure._

Even though Asahina had failed her- failed everyone, by letting Naegi run out of that room, Kyouko still cared. It was yet another show of feeling that let Asahina know that she definitely, definitely had a heart.

If only Ryouta could see it that way.

She got the reason why he didn't. He hadn't yet seen Kyouko without the world on her shoulders, hadn't seen the lights and shadows that plagued her eyes. All he'd seen was a co-worker. A woman who ran the public relations that he put to video.

He just needed to take a closer look, he'd get that she was hurting too.

"Just give her a chance, okay," She sighed, pleading with the animator next to her, "She'll surprise you."

* * *

They were arguing about her. She could hear it.

She could imagine what they were arguing about, imagine who had taken offence and who was supporting her.

She could imagine that they were both right.

She owed things to both of them, didn't she.

Kyouko eyed her watch, thinking, there was still quite a bit of time left-

Camera 29 was empty.

She saw it from the corner of her eye, the camera that shouldn't have been empty was empty. It blinked, its emptiness almost mocking her.

 _Oh dear._ She thought, resting her head against her palm _, that's going to be a problem._

* * *

s

though the final part kinda ruins the pun.

Thanks for your continued support. I'm really grateful for you all. It gets me really pumped up!

I hope I didn't ooc, since this is the first time I've pov shifted.


	9. Strike Out

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa

* * *

Kyouko remained calm as she opened the door, at least one of her friends' fears was about to become reality, so it wouldn't do to waver.

Silence greeted her. She knew why, of course, she'd heard them arguing about her, talking behind her back while she couldn't respond. She couldn't really be angry though, it wasn't as though they'd been wrong about her, after all. Still, _they_ felt guilty about it even if she didn't, their matching expressions of guilt and anxiety were proof enough of that.

Unfortunately, there was no time to deal with this right now, not with a half crazed extremist after their lives. Even if they did talk about it, what would be the chance of them working it out in time? And even no one interrupted them, it'd be a waste either way.

"We need to go." she announced, before either one could interrupt her with something like an apology or condemnation, "Munakata is coming."

Almost in unison, the two paled, Ryouta taking a panicked look into the hall behind them while Asahina dredged up her courage and declared she'd take the back.

"Are you sure that's wise," Ryouta pointed out, looking away from his vigil, "With your NG code, if someone rushed from the back, you'd be the most in danger…"

"I'm taking. The back." Asahina repeated, and Kyouko could hear that she would take no compromise.

Then again, she wasn't about to either, "It's too dangerous, Asahina, I'll take point and Mitarai will take the back."

She tried to say it with enough authority in her tone that they'd listen, and to his credit, Ryouta did, in fact, move to the back. But Asahina looked somewhat unhappy about it.

"We can't waste time arguing about who stands where." she reasoned, grasping the girls arm before she and Ryouta could start playing at who could get behind the other faster "We need to move. Time is of the essence now. If we waste it, one of us could be hurt."

Even Asahina had to admit to that. After all, if she really was so dead set on being useful, she certainly couldn't take the chance of Munakata catching up to them. So instead she bit back a sigh and took a place between the two of them.

With Asahina in the middle like this, there was little to no chance of her suddenly getting punched or kicked, and Kyouko felt far more at ease that way. It seemed to keep that image of Asahina's disfigured violet face far, far away from reality, and Kyouko wanted nothing more than for it to remain a shadowed dream.

Others could call her foolhardy if they wanted to, that was what she had decided on now, and she would move forwards on that decision.

She ran ahead with no regrets.

* * *

The body sagged against the wall. The lighting was dim at best, the flickers from the storeroom trying and failing to shed light on the shadows of the hallway, but all the darkness couldn't conceal what had happened. What had caused this person to die -and it pissed him off beyond belief.

How dare that bastard do this. Dying like that. After everything he'd done.

Becoming the ultimate hope, killing Enoshima Junko, ending despair.

After doing everything he himself had failed to do, that bastard had the nerve to just commit suicide like it was nothing. To go out smiling like all was right with the world.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. If he was ever going to die, it was supposed to be by his hands- or by Kyousuke's- or even Kimura's- he just wasn't supposed to go out on the terms of despair.

Going out like that, Juzo couldn't even feel smug about him dying. He couldn't even pretend this was better for the world. That it was a victory, for him or for Kyousuke.

Not that victories mattered anymore. At this point, he was a dead man walking anyway.

Another victim of this final killing game, probably one that didn't even matter.

He'd never mattered, apparently -the hole in his gut and the emptiness in his chest was proof of that- but he guessed that was the way things went for someone who'd crawled under Enoshima's feet and all but licked her boots -betrayed the person he loved to despair for his own pride and fear.

But even if that was the case- even if _had_ never mattered, he couldn't help but want to see Kyousuke succeed at this game.

 _For what, though?_ He thought, _What was there now anyway?_ The only thing worth a damn in this game was to destroy the treacherous despair hiding in this foundation and to break that stupid, fragile, traitorous hope into pieces.

And now what? Both the queen of despair and the king of those traitors was dead. What was even the point of continuing this game anymore?

Hah, there probably wasn't one, not for Munakata at least. To Kyousuke, it was probably just as pointless as his own self at this point.

He'd put them both out. It was about time.

But not like that pathetic corpse had, he wasn't a bastard like that. Wasn't weak enough to fall to something like despair.

There were still things to do. Ways to help Kyousuke, even if Kyousuke didn't want or care about his help.

That was love, he supposed.

 _There's still time left before the limit_ , he thought, staring down at his watch, _still time to do what I have to do._

He glared back at the scene before him. The body slumped against the wall as though it were just sleeping, smiling in a sick twisted joke. He stared at it with all the venom he could muster until it drained out of his stomach and left him with only cold resolve.

 _At least the bastard had the decency to die near a store room. That'll make things easier._

A storage room would be a good place to find something -something sharp, something wide, something heavy, but light enough it could be held in one hand…

It needed to be enough to take it off in one shot, so he wouldn't have time to regret it.

* * *

The building was still oppressive even when loud. The clatter of their footfalls filled the air, bouncing off the walls and racing through the halls faster than they could follow.

In hindsight, perhaps it was too loud, perhaps it was drawing Munakata too them.

Perhaps she'd been caught in the illusion of terror. That idea Munakata would always find them, and there was no point in hiding, such was the intimidating presence he held.

He was like a bloodhound, that's what they'd thought as they ran to try and find a room, any room that would be safe.

'A room where they'd be safe…' What kind of room would that be? Kyouko already had an idea of it, and even if she couldn't be sure, she was still going to get them there.

She wouldn't have expected them to have too much faith though, so she wasn't surprised when Ryouta took it as an opportunity to question her.

"What kind of room are you thinking of?" he panted.

"One with reinforced walls and only one door."

Surprisingly, Ryouta nodded with clarity, "-so you think that's his forbidden action too, then."

"Wait what?" Asahina interrupted, before Kyouko could respond. She was clearly confused by their words, with her head whipping between the two of them as she ran, "you know his forbidden action?"

"Opening doors." Ryouta clarified.

"In theory," Kyouko added sternly, "but it's better than nothing."

Luckily, Asahina didn't doubt her in the slightest. She even tore one of the maps off the walls they ran past, though it didn't see much use amongst all their panicked running.

"Do you know where one is, Kyouko?" she asked, giving up on trying to place them, not even thinking of locating their destination.

Luckily, Kyouko had done her best to remember the layout the first time through and was reasonably sure when she said, "Yes, it should be just around here…"

Just on time, the door passed into their view. It's grey tinged steel sticking out from the flat white of the solid, unbreakable wall.

They stood in front of it, grim, with an undercurrent of fear and doubt behind their eyes.

They didn't know what lay in that room, or what awaited them outside, and a part of them could only be unsure about this, but they couldn't let such thoughts stop them. This was their greatest hope.

"No matter what he may think of the rest of us," Kyouko reassured them, "he values his own life."

 _He thinks he's the only hope for the world, so he would never choose to die._

She believed in that fact. It was their only chance of all getting out of there alive.

- _And if he does come inside?_ Her mind asked her, eagerly flitting through the possibilities and probabilities of all that could go wrong, of everything that was out of her control.

 _-If the door doesn't close?_ It questioned.

 _-If the walls aren't strong enough?_ It bugged.

 _-If Sakakura appears?_ It queried, crawling and rolling through her mind.

It was stifling, sometimes, always knowing how close to collapse everything was, to know how little power a single person had.

But she knew not to fall prey to such worries. If a person's will was strong, it could turn the tides of change if it had to.

Kyouko knew her own will. She knew just how far she would go.

 _If he comes inside, then the others can run away while I hold him off. If any of us are to die here, I won't allow it to be either of them._

She held that will deep as she walked through the open door. Felt it beat along with her heart as she caught sight of the glinting metal racing forward, gowing with heat and ferocity.

Kyouko slammed the door behind her. Ignoring the shocked faces of Asahina and Mitarai, ignoring the fear she saw in their eyes in the split second before it was pushed aside by grey and cold steel.

Then she locked it, and it felt like she was locking her own fate as well.

By the time she'd turned back, Munakata was standing right in front of her -eyes burning, sword raised -staring at her.

She showed no weakness as she stared back.

* * *

The door wouldn't budge an _inch_ , no matter how hard Asahina slammed at it, it was unyielding.

Kyouko was in there alone with Munakata and there was nothing she could do about it. It was like a nightmare.

She prayed, she bashed, she cried and did everything she could, but if anyone was listening, they paid no attention to her pleadings. There was no one else around, and the the hunk of metal in front of her certainly had no heart to move.

Ryouta hadn't even tried, he'd seen the glint of light against the blade behind Kyouko as she closed the door, and he'd dropped all hope, collapsing against the wall behind them and curling into himself.

"Asahina," he said quietly, the first thing since they'd been seperated, "we should leave-"

"No."

"Kyouko will be safe in there, and if she isn't then she's -she's already-"

"There's no way I can leave! Not if there's a chance she's still alive!"

 _After all, if I do that, I may as well be killing her myself. I promised myself I'd never do that again. I'd never lose a friend again._

Se couldn't leave like this. There was no way. But she was just so useless -just too much of a failure to do what was needed.

 _If I was strong like Sakura, or Gozu,_ she found herself thinking, almost letting a tear drop at the sound of her friends name, wondering if she'd be ashamed of her _, If I was one of them, I'd be able to open that door no problem. But I'm not._

 _...Kyouko should've put her faith in someone better._

However true those thoughts may have been, she didn't let them stop her. Pounding and crashing and pounding away until her knuckles were bloody. Even if it was to no avail, she had to keep going because if she didn't then there'd be _no_ chance and she couldn't accept that.

"Asahina…" Ryouta murmured, his voice raising slightly against the sounds of her fists against the door.

She ignored him.

"Asahina! At the hallway!"

Nothing.

" _Asahina_!"

-Unable to ignore his cries any longer, Asahina finally turned away from the useless hunk of metal to face the other, but as she turned she saw _him_ , and she froze like a deer in the headlights.

There at the end of the corridor was Juzo Sakakura, looking at her with eyes full of spite.

She grasped cure W in her pocket. Her grip tightening as the boxers eyes passed over the scene. Passing over her to Ryouta's frozen spot on the wall to the bloodied white door behind her.

Time seemed to stop, or maybe it was her blood freezing as dull empty red focused on her- "You. Tell me. Where the hell is that bastard detective?"

She drank the medicine. Ryouta shakily rose from his heap.

"If you want me to tell," she mustered, hoping her voice wavered less than her fast beating heart, "then make me."

* * *

Heres chapter 9 I guess. Yaaay?


	10. Breakdown

Disclaimer: i do not own danganronpa.

* * *

"So," Munakata began tonelessly, "Naegi Makoto is dead."

"I can't fathom what might have brought you to that conclusion." Kyouko deadpanned.

"It was inevitable for someone as weak as him."

"Nothing about him was weak." she responded, slowly sliding against the wall and as far away from the madman with the sword as possible.

Munakata kept his blade level with her neck, but made no move to stop her, merely shifting, keeping her in his sights like some kind of bird of prey.

 _Well, I suppose that if he did try to stop me, he'd be trapped in here as well._

To be honest, Kyouko hadn't been expecting to come within ten feet of him. But knowing that he was incapable of making a move against her was heartening. Enough so that she found herself brave enough to push away from the wall and gain a measure of distance from Munakata.

Munakata watched her with barely controlled hostility, "So you also prefer to run away, then. Both of you are nothing but cowards."

"Naegi was not a coward."

"He never had the strength to admit what was necessary. Or to see the evil in people."

"He had the strength to have hope. Which is more than can be said for you."

"A hope like that is meaningless," came his reply, his voice too dead to scoff, "He denied reality, the despair that had poisoned the hearts of those around him, and he died for it.

"But you'd know that best, after all," he continued as he began to close on her, the sound of his sword scraping against the ground rattling in Kyouko's head, "You're the one who killed him to save yourself, aren't you?"

* * *

 _It's okay. He can't punch you. Ryouta told you. Attacking someone barehanded is his forbidden action. He can't punch you. It's okay._

Really there was nothing he could do. Even if Sakakura was standing right in front of her, he was all bark and no bite, not a real danger, not without a weapon.

Besides, even if he could punch her, she'd already taken the medicine, so it would all be fine. She trusted Kyouko that much.

Truthfully, there was only one thing that was dangerous right now, and that was locked behind the door with Kyouko. Asahina had to keep her safe somehow. She had to open the door.

But more importantly, she had to make sure that Sakakura _didn't_ open the door. Because if Sakakura opened it then Kyouko- if she was even- No. She was _definitely_ still alive- would lose her only leverage against Munakata.

Munakata's life hinged on Kyouko's survival- That was what Kyouko had said and that was what Asahina was clinging too. So she needed to make sure that that fact didn't change, even if she died doing it, because as long as Munakata wanted to live, then Kyouko would live too, and Asahina needed that.

She wouldn't move from the door, no matter how close Sakakura got, or how much Sakakura glared at her.

She wouldn't move.

"She's behind there?" Sakakura grunted, nodding at the door behind her with empty eyes.

In hindsight, maybe she should've moved. Perhaps standing in front of the door she wanted to protect was a bit obvious.

Ryouta edged towards them, meekly planting himself at Asahina's side,"She's not there at all." he stammered, attempting to salvage the lie, "S-she left to go find the attacker…"

"W-what?" Asahina exclaimed, before catching on, "I mean- Why would you tell him that!? Ryouta!?"

Ryouta gave a (disturbingly convincing) grimace, "If we don't then he'll kill us, we may as well tell him where she is."

Sakakura scowled, "What makes you think I won't kill you shits anyway, after Munakata and me, and you three bastards are all that's left."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryouta questioned, pulling Asahina back slightly

"T-that one of us is the attacker?" Asahina realized with a start, "that's not it, we _know_ who the attacker is!"

"Thats right." she declared hotly, "We know, and if you kill us, you'll never find out."

"Or," the boxer grunted, "I could beat it out of you, leave you for dead, then break open that door and take care of that detective as well."

Ryouta paled "I told you she wasn't behind there!"

"Shut up," Sakakura growled, throwing Ryouta to the side too quickly for Asahina to even register his actions."

 _He- he punched-_

"But why attack us like that!?" Asahina pleaded, eyes beginning to burn, "We've never done anything to you."

Red eyes glowered at her, coloured like blood.

"You're in our way. That's enough."

With that said, he drew his fist back and punched Asahina square in the jaw.

There was a beep. no -there must have been more than just one. Asahina knew, the bracelet always beeped over and over when it activated, but through the haze of pain and tears that followed that punch, Asahina couldn't hear any more than one. Reverberating in her head, loud enough to silence her cries, but not the pain that shot through her body as she fell to the ground.

 _What about Ryouta-_

 _I can't leave Kyouko-_

 _It hurts-_

 _Please let the cure work-_

 _Kyouko I'm sorry-_

Amidst all those fragmented thoughts and bursts of life, one idea kept repeating, over and over, even more than the apologies

 _How did he do it_ , _how did he throw his life away?_

It was then, through the haze of red and clotted blood, that Asahina noticed it. That Sakakura wasn't using his right arm -no, that he didn't _have_ a right arm, or an NG code.

 _Well_ , thought the last recesses of her conscious mind, _that explains it._

Then everything withdrew into the shadows. Even the burning pain.

* * *

She'd kicked him. It hadn't even made him stumble.

It didn't take a genius to figure that maybe Kyouko shouldn't have done that. But for just one moment, Kyouko hadn't been a genius. She'd been a fool, ruled by her own emotions.

Her ancestors were probably ashamed of her. Hell, she was ashamed of herself. She'd kicked Munakata. He'd probably kill her for that.

 _At least the others are safe._

As thankful as she was for that fact, she was still mystified that the madman in question had made no attempt to behead her yet. Instead he stood deathly still. Staring at her with his one blackened eye.

 _Fitting for one who can see only darkness_.

Well, she'd have to make him see light if she ever wanted to leave this room alive. If not light, then hopefully reason.

She didn't like to put faith in a insane murderer's reason, but by now, that was all she could do.

"I know who the attacker is," she tried, quickly backing away and holding up her hands to show that she was unarmed, "I can tell you who it is if you just calm down-"

It was a useless thing to ask, there was no way he would stop. He didn't even look anxious. Really, Munakata looked as calm as ever, even if he _had_ taken stance and activated his swords burn function.

"If you kill me, you'll die in here." she warned, backing away from him as far as she could.

"I'm not planning to kill you," Munakata replied, voice icy cold, "I'm just going to make sure you can't run away either."

Kyouko didn't even have time to blink, before he leapt across the distance she had mustered and drew the sword down the side of her leg.

It bit deep and it burned like the day she'd burned her hands. Screaming down her leg and melting her torn skin into ugly black lines that leaked red like fire.

The rational part of her mind noted that he leg had failed her, collapsing under her weight and bringing her to the ground. It noted in that single moment that she had lost her only way of escape, her legs, before it was drowned out by the burning screams.

Kyouko didn't even try to hold back.

* * *

Woah, this one was slow. Anyway, thanks for all the faves, follows and reviews, i'm glad you thought I could actually plot! It made me pretty happy. ^-^

Hopefully I can keep the quality up...


	11. Communicate

disclaimer: i do not own danganronpa.

An: I feel I should mention that I posted the first chap when there was only one written, and I had no idea where it was going so... Uuuuh... Naegi isn't joining up. I really shouldn't have put him in the characters section. I'm sorry.

* * *

Kyouko screamed, the cries ripping out from her throat long past the moment when it became too painful to bear. By the time she stopped, even her shallow panting sent tendrils of pain down her throat.

She didn't want to move, she knew moving would only make the pain worse. But she had to move. She had to do something. Get away. Anything.

It was pointless, the slightest shift made her leg feel like it was coming apart all over again, and drew out whimpers from Kyouko that she felt ashamed to give.

When the keening finally ended, she was careful not to start it again. Staying completely still aside from the haggard rising of her chest as she continued breathing.

The pain was unbearable, just too much for her to even think straight, but even her addled mind could comprehend that she couldn't just sit there all day and do nothing. Even if she wanted to just rest and get away from everything, she knew that was impossible.

 _I...need t-to calm down...and...assess...the damage._ She thought, _I need...to calm down._

 _In...for four._ She thought, holding her eyes closed and doing her best to calm her heart, _Hold...for seven… Out- for eight._

She kept it up, even though it hurt to breathe, even though her head was throbbing and her leg was lancing and she could barely even feel her hands.

She kept it up for as long as she could until her breaths became less shudders and more assured, merciful gasps.

Then, she opened her eyes and craned her neck as much as she could to look down at her leg. The movement sent a shiver of pain through her body, but Kyouko refused to even flinch as she surveyed the blackened laceration that ran down her leg.

It ran all the way down her calf. A straight, almost surgical slice that was surrounded by dried blood and blackened, melted skin. The area around the dark edges was an angry, swollen red that was already starting to boil.

Kyouko could tell just from looking that getting up would be beyond her, Munakata's sword seemed to have cut straight through the tendon and cauterized the wound at the same time, and she wouldn't be able to heal from this any time soon -if at all. And either way, walking would be a lost cause without help.

She turned her head up, looking away from the horrid, burnt wound to take in her surroundings.

There wasn't much to see, it was the same as it had been minutes ago before her world had caught fire. Clutter, wood, metal and rust, nothing to help her, though the blood was probably new.

Munakata was also still here, leaning, still, on the side of the room. It was expected, of course. She hadn't opened the door, no one had. It was probably the only reason she was still alive.

Still alive and without a leg to stand on. Well that suited his purposes didn't it.

' _I'm going to make sure you can't run away.'_ was what he'd said.

 _You certainly managed that_. She grimaced, tapping her leg to see how sensitive the bruising was.

The action elicited a hiss of pain. "You're lucky I'm still lucid," she spat, directing her anger at Munakata, "I could've bled out and you'd have died in here.

He turned to her, glaring, "I'm not that much of a fool. I simply meant to leave no illusions as to who's in control here."

"At this point, I don't even care to lie." Kyouko muttered.

Munakata's voice was cold and harsh, "Then explain."

"I don't really need to explain. If you just wait ten minutes and walk up to the monitor, then it should become obvious."

"Don't joke with me," Munakata warned, glaring at her.

"I'm not joking or lying." the _you probably wouldn't believe me otherwise_ , went unsaid.

"I was awake last sleeping period, nothing happened on the monitors."

"That's because you weren't close enough to it." she responded, impatient.

"Or you could just be buying time."

Kyouko sighed, slouching against the wall. He had a point there, she _was_ trying to buy time, though she couldn't exactly tell for what. It wasn't like things would change in their sleep, like the attacker would gather Kyouko up in their arms while Munakata slept and rescue her. There wasn't even an attacker to do so.

 _I'm just waiting- waiting for what? For a miracle? For Asahina and Ryouta to get away?_

No. She was waiting for someone to save her, but that wouldn't happen. Waiting was worthless, she needed to get out under her own power.

She had no legs, but she still had her mind, she could use that, if nothing else.

 _As a detective, I often had to use the warped minds of the perpetrators in order to solve the case. A madman should be nothing new to me. They work on their own internal logic, if I can understand that, then I can talk my way out of this mess._

That thought in mind, she tried to reach out to the madman in front of her, she hoped he wasn't a viper.

"You won't kill me either way." she began, "This is just a bid."

Munakata was suspicious, "A bid for what."

"To work things out between us-"

-Kyouko knew two- no three things. First, Munakata wanted to live, second, Munakata wanted to preserve the world's hope, and thirdly-

 _-He wants to end the attacker quickly and efficiently_ , "I'll tell you who the attacker is, to show you that we're all on the same side."

"You keep on saying that, but what makes you think I don't already know."

Kyouko felt her heart quicken, "Then you already know, you already know that the monitors-"

"Tengan told me :each one of us has the capability of being the attacker."

Kyouko's brow furrowed, _That's not- no, it_ is _true, but not in that way. Even though any of us could commit suicide, it makes it sound like we're all-_

Realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.

 _-Like we're all traitors -That's why he thinks we're all traitors!_ That's _why he was so against compromise. He thinks we're all despair_

If that really was it, if Munakata had really come out with the core of his ideology, this poisonous suspicion -then she could use that.

"Tengan was wrong," she said quickly, "he was lying."

"He couldn't lie, that was his forbidden action."

"That doesn't preclude him from being paranoid," Kyouko argued, _or phrasing things badly, goodness knows he liked to be vague._

 _Or maybe he was the traitor all along, I should record this in my notebook._ Kyouko thought, almost reaching for the binder before remembering the state of her leg, _Once I can move of course._

"So you're saying Tengan was wrong."

"In that everyone here is a despair? Yes. Not a single person was despair."

"You're wrong." Munakata replied, the lights dying in his eyes, "You're wrong."

"What do you mean?" Kyouko asked, stiffening, "Was there a traitor-" _besides Ando_?

Munakata was silent, his hostility seemed to have melted away, having been replaced by...something? Regret? Sadness? They seemed so alien on Munakata. Ever since having joined the foundation, she'd never known their leader to falter.

Kyouko couldn't help but feel a melancholy looking at him, it seemed so familiar, the pain of loss, but her sympathy didn't last long, before the regret in his eyes froze over and was once more replaced by frigid hatred.

"That's none of your business." he spat, "The only thing that matters is that my eyes have been opened. Despair is in everybody and unless we destroy it completely-"

The door slammed, dust and asphalt flying as it shook from the impact.

Kyouko stared in silence, fear clawing it's way into her heart. Asahina and Ryouta should've been long gone, and neither of them had the strength to do that to the door besides-

Another slam, it was bending around its hinges now, Kyouko desperately flicked through the possibilities. Who could it be? Who had that kind of strength? Sakakura?

Sakakura had found them, Kyouko knew it even before the door sung open and cracked against the wall. Before eyes like blood gave the fear full reach over her heart.

And there, behind Sakakura, lay Asahina, half her body gone dark.

* * *

I don't like this one, seems a bit short and nothing really happened aside from Munakata being revealed as being reasonable. I guess thats just the pacing of a 1000 word chapter limits.


	12. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own danganronpa

* * *

Me:hey we should probably study for finals-

My brain: -CAN'T STOP US NOW

Me: the homework-

My brain: -THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Me: secret santa obligations-

My brain: -WE WERE

Me: priorities-

My brain: -BORN TO MAKE HISTORY

* * *

Sakakura froze.

He hadn't been expecting this, he wasn't prepared.

He'd been expecting that detective to be behind that door. Not Munakata. Granted, the detective had been in the room, but that didn't make this situation any better.

Really, the situation couldn't get worse, after all, Munakata was right in front of him.

Munakata, who he'd followed all through high school, who he'd admired and trusted above all else.

Munakata, who he'd served through this whole war against despair, who he'd sworn he'd never fail again.

Munakata, who he'd betrayed, who he'd hidden Junko Enoshima from, just for his stupid pride.

Munakata, who'd struck him down for daring to love him. Who he still loved even now.

The hole in his chest hurt just thinking about it, but not as much as the gaping emptiness had. The knowledge that Enoshima had been right, that he'd never had any hope in winning over Munakata, that he found him disgusting.

Munakata attacking him was a confirmation, and it had felt like the world ended all over again. Like all those insane reserve course students were laughing at him again. Kicking him while he was down.

From here on, standing before him again, with that sword pointed at his chest… he didn't know what would happen, perhaps he'd really die this time, like the traitor he was.

At least he'd opened the door, that way, Munakata would be free.

It wasn't bad for his final action.

* * *

Kyouko crawled. One arm in front of the other, leaving a trail of blood and dirt across the cold floor.

The chill of the tiles did little to soothe the way her leg burned and split with each movement, but between Asahina's fallen body and Munakata, Kyouko couldn't really feel it under the roaring in her ears.

Honestly, she didn't even know why she was trying so hard. She knew Asahina was dead, it was foolish to be putting such effort behind some doomed hope that she was alive. She'd seen the purple skin, the still chest, she'd seen Asahina's death. What hope was there further to crush?

Even so, she crawled, unaware of the scene unfolding around her until she was right above Asahina.

Slowly, she took Asahina's wrist in her hands, checking her pulse with a detective's precision. But she felt nothing.

She didn't know how long she waited like that, holding onto Asahina's hand in the desperate hope that she would feel that steady beat. Normally she felt she could trust her sense of time, but now she couldn't trust anything. Not anymore. Nothing except the empty silence of Asahina's heart.

She dropped the hand, letting it fall against the floor uselessly. There was no point in holding on to it anymore. Asahina was dead.

Asahina was dead, and everything Kyouko had tried to protect -had worked for, was slipping through her fingers.

Kyouko felt all her energy drain out of her at the realization. Leaving her in a senseless fugue between tears and fury at herself for breaking like this.

She had to get away! To live! She couldn't afford to cry here! She still had things she needed to do. People she needed to see. If she gave up now everything Asahina had done would've been worthless.

...but just how long was she supposed to wait before she could cry? What if that time never came, and she died here having achieved nothing.

In that sort of situation, she may as well just give up and make the best. At least if she cried, she could die with an empty heart.

So she did, she cried and she sobbed, about the pain in her leg and the pain in her eyes and the gaping hole in her heart where her two friends should've been.

Then she felt something tap against her leg, the ringing pain it elicited sufficient to knock her out of her haze.

It was a bottle, labelled Cure W, and it was empty.

Asahina had used it, and she'd still died. The cure hadn't worked at all.

All of the hope that Asahina had put in the cure- no, had put in Kyouko -it was all a failure. It would have been a failure no matter what.

Even if Makoto had taken the medicine, he'd have died. If Kyouko had taken the medicine, she'd have died.

It should've been her, she was ready for the end, she'd had hope in the future -in Makoto.

Because Makoto felt like the kind of person she could count on. The kind of person who she knew would make things right. Even though she had no real reason to trust him like that, she still did, enough to die happy and leave the future in his hands.

Perhaps doing that -foisting it all away and leaving the world in some other person's hands- perhaps was weakness, perhaps this was merely all Kyouko's delusion, but she felt with certainty that if Makoto had been the one to live, that Asahina wouldn't be lying lifelessly on the floor like this.

Certainty. What an odd thing to feel in times like these. Where the only certainty was that there were hardships on the horizon and there would always be, day after day.

Kyouko wondered if Makoto had felt any certainty, if he had doubted in the future -in her, in the moments before he died.

It didn't matter either way, Kyouko had already failed in getting Asahina out of this mess, at this point, it was only the difference between a betrayal and an expectation.

She couldn't deal with either.

* * *

Ryouta couldn't believe he'd ever called Kyouko heartless. Watching her now, sobbing over Asahina's body with such raw emotion, it seemed obvious that she broke and burned out just like the rest of them.

Everyone broke eventually. Despair always beat hope. The world was simply too cruel for it to be any other way. It favoured the unfair, the exploitative, the strong, all those people who spread despair.

There was only one way to save hope, and that was to wipe despair off the face of the earth, to strengthen hope until the world favoured it instead.

When he got down to it, Ryouta was much more like Munakata than he was comfortable admitting. They both knew what it would take to save hope.

The difference was that he'd wanted things to be different, he'd hoped, he'd believed, again and again, and he'd been knocked down every time.

First the ultimate hope had died, now Asahina had joined him, and with Munakata and Sakakura in the next room Kyouko would probably be next.

And throughout all of this, he hadn't been able to do a thing, hadn't been able to save anyone. For all his talk of righting the world, of making up for what he'd created, he was still no closer than ever.

That was one difference between him and Munakata. Munakata had the strength, drive, and charisma to enact change. Ryouta had nothing.

He couldn't save people with words, and he couldn't save people with blows either.

The only thing he could use was anime, but if he did that then…

If I do that, he thought, staring down at his bracelet with tired eyes, then I'll die.

Will it be worth it?

Ryouta didn't know, he didn't know what to think. Whether he should put his faith in the hope that Naegi believed in, or the hope that he would create with his anime.

He wanted a sign, he needed someone to tell him what to do.

But that in itself was weakness, if he was going to save anyone, he needed to walk on his own. So walk he did, until Kyouko Kirigiri was left far enough behind that he couldn't hear her broken cries.

If anyone or anything -wants to stop me, He thought wistfully, walking through the creaking halls, then tell me now, before I find my way out of here.

Because once I find my way out, everything will be over.

* * *

So... that was a break, I had finals, and I also had to draw a bunch of pictures for a secret santa, so it took a little. Well, it's here now, I hope everyone likes it! ^-^

And, uuuh, that skater show. Really cool. Highly recommend.


	13. Make the Case

disclaimer: I do not own danganronpa

* * *

Kyouko was thrown back into reality by the scream of metal and flame. Adrenaline rushed through her, drowning out all the shock and dispelling the haze over her mind.

The scream was like death, it awoke something in Kyouko, sending her scrambling away from Asahina into the wall. Her leg screamed it's complaints, but Kyouko was beyond that, the beating of her heart in her ears already drowning out the rest of the world.

It was the sword, as expected. Munakata had activated its heat function again. Fortunately, her hazed mind could at least tell that it wasn't being aimed at her this time. At least not for now. Instead, it was being aimed at Sakakura, the last person she'd expected to see at the end of Munakata's blade.

For a moment, she considered using it as a distraction, but only for a moment. The state of her leg made any escape impossible, no matter how enamoured the two were with killing each other

- _although_ , now that she looked more closely, it didn't seem like Sakakura was acting particularly violent towards Munakata. In fact, he was practically retreating, having taken up no arms, and he didn't seem to be intending to in the near future.

Then again, he appeared to be in no condition to fight. His right arm was a bloody stump, and his chest was caked in blood. The man had been stabbed, had been amputated.

Thing being the way they were, Munakata might as well not have bothered. Sakakura was already a dead man walking.

 _But_ why? _Why are they fighting. Something must have occurred between them._

Kyouko needed to find out what had happened. If she could somehow figure out how to get on either mans good side, she might be able to come out of this with her life intact.

She considered her options, going through every conversation to try and find some way to curry favour -some way to prove her trustworthiness.

Back then, before she and Munakata had been interrupted, Kyouko could swear they'd been making progress, maybe if she pressed on with that...

 _What was it? What was he talking about before Sakakura burst in?_.

Her mind provided the answer easily. They'd been talking about the attacker, the traitor in the future foundation.

Munakata had said that he thought everyone was a traitor, and his actions followed through with that, it would certainly explain why he was trying to kill Sakakura right now -But Kyouko knew that there were no true traitors, and if she could prove that, perhaps she could earn both of their goodwills.

The thought of defending Sakakura dug a pit in her stomach -after everything he'd done -after hurting Asahina and Naegi and trying to kill her -she was just supposed to help him? She could barely fathom it.

Even so, it was that or death.

 _No matter what, Asahina wouldn't have wanted me to die._

Those thoughts in her mind, she cried out with as much authority as she could muster, "Stop this!"

* * *

"Stop this!"

Sakakura froze at the sound of the voice. Between Munakata's aggression and his own thoughts, he'd completely forgotten that the detective had even been there.

She spoke again, a little quieter this time, but no less forceful, "You've made a mistake, Munakata."

The sound of own his name appeared to bring Kyousuke back to reality as well. It drew his attention away from Sakakura for just a moment as he focused upon the injured woman.

"You think Sakakura is a traitor," the detective continued, not even flinching as she slowly pushed herself up on broken legs, "but he's not. None of us are."

Sakakura hadn't heard her after the word 'traitor'. Couldn't hear it through the cold feeling it brought up in his gut when he realized that Munakata must have known. He must have known that Sakakura had let Junko go free -probably thought that he was involved in this game too.

That must have been why he had been trying to kill him, because he knew what he'd done and he felt his excuse wasn't good enough.

Sakakura couldn't blame him for that, looking out at the world he'd caused, he was pretty sure he'd never forgive himself either.

Munakata was, after all, a man who'd believed in justice. It was what made him so inspiring, so worthy of being followed. It was his ideals that had built the future foundation, and it was his ideals that meant that there was no way he'd be able to look at everything that had happened out there -the dead children, slaughtered mothers and rampaging despairs and just -just _let_ what Sakakura had done go.

No, Sakakura wouldn't want him too, he'd never wish for Munakata to change like that.

"I'm sorry." he choked, it was all he could manage.

Hearing his apology, both turned. Munakata slowly and deliberately, his glare silent and full of betrayal. Kirigiri with eyes wide, glaring at him with the exasperation of a thousand suns.

"So you _were_ one too." Munakata growled, his voice cold and even "You and Chisa."

-The world seemed to go silent at that.

 _What._

- _Chisa was a despair?_

-Chisa? That fool Chisa? Who he'd always told to be careful? Who he'd always had to protect?

-That same Chisa who'd wanted the best for everyone? -who'd always put the future first? -who'd been there for Munakata this whole damn time without fail! Doing what Sakakura could _never_ have been able to do.

-She'd loved her students so much- Loved all those people so much- so why? When had this happened? When had Chisa become a despair? Had this all just gotten to her or-

 _-Did I betray Chisa too, back when I let Enoshima go?_

Sakakura was still reeling from the revelation when Munakata spoke again, raising his sword in preparation.

"Both of you are traitors -despairs," he said, his words ringing in Sakakura's ears, "and I will eliminate all of you."

Through all the fog and buzz of his thoughts, Sakakura couldn't find the strength -couldn't even find the _reason_ -to defend himself.

It was his fault Chisa had been turned. His fault the world had become like this, he deserved to be executed at this point. He was a traitor to his two best friends-

-"Didn't you hear me before? He's not a traitor you fool." the voice was sharp and cool, cutting through the fog and haze of his thoughts like a blade.

Bewildered, he turned and looked at the woman who had spoken. Standing on burned, broken legs without even flinching.

 _Kirigiri?_

"How would you know, Kirigiri?"

Her answer was swift, "the killers are all brainwashed to commit suicide. Sakakura is clearly still in control of his faculties."

 _Kirigiri is defending him?_

Munakata scoffed, "Brainwashing? That's ridiculous."

"It's already happened before, hasn't it? During the incident-"

"Those videos were destroyed by Tengan." Munakata stared unblinkingly at Kyouko, but her words had already caused him to lower his sword.

 _-after everything that's happened. After I killed Asahina?_

"Were they?" Kirigiri asked, eyes sharp, "Did you see him break them with his own two hands? All of them?"

 _You'd still defend me?_

Kyousuke was silent, he was incensed, Sakakura could tell, he wanted nothing more than to piece together the lie and cut the detective to ribbons but- "Then you mean to say that the victims were all suicides."

Kirigiri nodded, "There is no attacker -I don't know about Yukizome, -but I know that."

Her eyes hardened, calm, yet stronger than anything.

"Sakakura is innocent. _I_ am innocent. Makoto was innocent. And if you care at all about the future of this world -this _organization_. Then you will lower. Your. Sword. And let me _prove it_."

There was silence then, long and calm.

In his clear, fogless mind, Sakakura could barely hold back a scoff.

 _It's already lowered. Idiot detective._

* * *

Sorry for taking so long, and for giving something so subpar. The truth is I don't really know where I'm going with this... Like, its kind of embarrassing but when i started this fic I kind of expected to just figure out the ending as I wrote the chapters and here I am and, well, I haven't.

So yeah, the next few are probably coming in a whiiiiile. but I will finish it! In remembrance for all those times _I_ ended up being left hanging.

Thanks for hanging around everyone! I'll try not to disappoint!


	14. The Next Step

Disclaimer: i do not own danganronpa.

* * *

It was Munakata who first broke the silence, his sword making a thin scraping sound as he returned it to its scabbard. Kyouko wasn't ashamed to say that the action relieved her, and she finally curled from the pain in her leg and let herself collapse against the wall again.

"So, Kirigiri," he asked, resting his weapon against the wall and watching her like a hawk,"if the attacks _have_ been caused by the videos on the monitors, as you say, then what should we do about it?"

"Nothing," she replied, "we just need to get rid of the ones that get in our way. From the beginning, the idea was to find the attacker and escape, but if there is no attacker, then all that's left is escape."

Munakata was quick to interrupt, "How can you be sure that there even is a way out? The mastermind could easily have arranged for us to all die in here. Especially if he planned the killings remotely."

"Remote or not, he had to get us in here somehow," Kyouko retorted, "even if he collapsed the door or locked the gates, that's something the Future Foundation members outside can deal with."

After a moment, Munakata seemed to accept her explanation, and silently switched from talking to assessing the damage to her leg.

Sakakura, however, was a little more worried, "but how will the Future Foundation be able to find us when even _we_ don't even know where we are?" he grumbled, "The food in here won't last us forever." the fact that he wouldn't last long with or without food went unsaid.

Munakata was quiet for a while, "I'd like to say that we were moved quickly thanks to the watches, but the time on them could easily have been tampered with. Truthfully, we could be days away from the headquarters-"

"Well wherever we are, it's definitely underwater." Sakakura provided, before his entire body began sagging. He grimaced, the shock of what had happened beginning to wear off as he clutched his bleeding arm, "I remember -I saw it before. When Kirigiri ran away after Ando..."

 _Is he referring to the secret exit that was mentioned before?_ Kyouko wondered, pushing away the memories of what had happened inside, _Indeed, I've never been there. In fact, there might even be something useful there besides an exit._

"You're talking about that secret exit. Do you know how to get there," Kyouko queried.

"Hunh," Sakakura groaned, shaking his head and pulling himself up, "Y-Yeah. I can get us there…"

Munakata appeared to disagree, and was looking at his friend with an expression that Kyouko could almost call worried.

He seemed to be about to say something about it when Sakakura interrupted him, "Yeah...I can get us there easy, " he said, straightening up and squaring his shoulders in an attempt to hide his condition,

Munakata wasn't fooled, "Are you sure you're fit to move?"

"I'd say I'm more fit than Kirigiri over there," Sakakura replied, eyes challenging, "so if you're giving anyone a lift it should be her."

He was right, of course, so Kyouko wasn't going to complain. Even so, she could feel Munakata's discomfort in the way his hands strained -shifting just a little too quick to be calm -as he bandaged her leg and had her clamber clumsily onto his back.

It was as though he felt that there wasn't enough time, and as Kyouko looked across the room at Sakakura -the way he stumbled and gripped his bloodied arm and chest -she felt as though he may be right.

 _Perhaps the secret exit will have some medical supplies, until then, it would be best to try to take it slow._

To be honest, it would help if they could get there as quickly as possible, but going too fast would put stress on Munakata's friend. If something happened to him that could possibly be construed as her fault, she had no doubt it would cause problems between herself and Munakata, and she didn't need that kind of drama, not right now.

 _Too many important people have died today, people important to me and to the world._

Her heart hurt at the thought of them -of Naegi and Asahina -of Kizakura, Gozu, Gekkogahara and Bandai - even of Izayoi, Ando, Kimura - all sacrifices of this game.

But then her heart went cold, because she didn't have time for that right now, she had to protect the future and-.

That was when she realized Ryouta wasn't in the hallway.

Munakata must have sensed her shock, as he quickly stilled, craning his neck to look at her in confusion.

"Sakakura," she breathed, not bothering to turn to the man, training her eyes on the spot where Ryouta should have been "where's Ryouta?"

 _I promised to protect him_ , she thought desperately, hoping beyond hope that Sakakura would say something constructive, _He has to be ok._

"I don't know," Sakakura sighed, honest regret in his voice, "he ran off after I -to Asahina."

Kyouko didn't need to hear anymore.

 _Funny_ , she thought dryly, ignoring the sinking churn of her chest, _after all the times I've dealt with false hopes, you'd think I'd be used to it by now._

She shook her head _, no, I mustn't think like that, for all i know, he's fine._

 _I need to stay strong._

* * *

Kyouko wished they could run faster, but Munakata wouldn't allow it. For all the coldness he'd expressed before, he now seemed intensely fixated on Sakakura's wellbeing.

She'd like to have pointed out that Ryouta could be in an even worse state at this juncture, the sleeping phase would happen soon and when it did there was a chance he would be the next victim, but she knew who took priority in Munakata's mind, so she kept silent even as her mind roared in protest.

 _Unacceptable._ She thought _, I can't allow Ryouta to die. Not after everyone else._

They had to get there in time somehow… but she knew that if she asked to go faster she'd just be rejected, these people didn't have the same stakes after all.

She supposed that was what was so magnetic about Naegi, he somehow found enough heart to care and trust in everyone, and there was no way you could argue with something that was so utterly _right_ as that.

 _He'd called it being an optimist, but it was really something. I can't manage it._

Then again, Ryouta was quite competent with animation, perhaps he'd be able to circumvent the video's effects with his expertise.

As quickly as the thought had come to her, it was dismissed. Ryouta's life was on the line, and that was too much to leave to chance, they _had_ to warn him! And yet they wouldn't.

"You seem concerned, Kirigiri."

She stayed silent. He knew what she felt, and if he didn't than he was far less intelligent than she'd assumed.

"Just keep moving."

"Is it about Mitarai?"

Kyouko could've groaned. _Congratulations,_ she thought, _you've figured it out, but you aren't going to do anything about it are you? So why bring it up? Did you just feel like rubbing salt in the wound?_

"It doesn't matter," Kyouko said coldly, instead, "There's nothing left to say."

"...Are you sure about that?" Munakata asked, and although his steps didn't slow down in the slightest, Kyouko could her tension in his voice, hidden by layers of nonchalance.

"If you have a point you should hurry up and get to it." She asked stiffly, not sure if she'd like what she'd hear.

Munakata seemed to be able to feel her stiffness, either that, or Kyouko was imagining the odd delicacy in his voice as he told her.

"That suicide video, if it's the same one I'm thinking of, it was probably Mitarai who created it."

It was as though the world had stopped, frozen at those words as Kyouko's mind suddenly began putting the pieces together, over and over despite how wrong they were.

"Your memories were restored, no?" Munakata continued, ignoring her shock, "Then you must remember what caused the tragedy. It was a video, no one who ever saw it survived."

"Surely there could be some other-"

"It's impossible. There isn't another person out there who would be able to create such a thing, not after the passing of Junko Enoshima."

Kyouko shook her head, she couldn't believe Ryouta could do that. It wasn't just an emotional response, or even trust. It just seemed beyond the Ryouta she knew.

 _He truly believed in hope, there's no way he'd aid despair. It just doesn't fit._

 _But maybe -maybe I don't know him as well as I thought I did, or maybe…_

"Even if Ryouta did make it, it would be impossible for him to install it across the building like this," she realized, her mind zeroing in on the likeliest candidate that she could think of, "either someone else made the video, or someone found it and installed it."

She could see Munakata's face darkening as she spoke, and she knew he'd come to the same conclusion as her.

"Tengan." Munakata muttered, the slightest hint of shame colouring his voice.

Kyouko sighed, "He played you well, didn't he."

"Maybe he did, but it wouldn't have worked half as well if…"

Munakata trailed off then. Probably thinking of Yukizome, Kyouko surmised. She hadn't been aware of the two's relationship before, aside from knowing that they had been close.

It was dawning on her now that it hadn't just been close. It had been beyond that, close to the point that you didn't even realize it was there, so close that going without it felt like driving against the strongest headwind.

She understood what he felt, what he was going through. She'd lost her own hope just earlier, watched it throw itself to the death and place its faith in her unsteady hands.

Even so, she'd taken up that hope and found her own. Created a hope that still persisted somehow even now, no matter how battered it was, or how many people fell around her.

Briefly, she wondered if Munakata would find that kind of hope, then she shook those thoughts away.

-He'd have to find it if he planned to lead the foundation after this, and if he didn't that just meant someone else would have to step up.

Ifs were meaningless in this situation. Either Munakata would rise to the challenge, or he wouldn't. Those were the eventualities she had to plan for.

 _I won't fail you,_ she thought, twin warmths flitting across her mind's eye and lifting her heart _, Neither of you. I'll protect this world._

She didn't have anymore time to dwell on it though, because that was when the room came into view. Kyouko felt Munakata stiffen as Sakakura fell to the floor near the entrance, spent after having taxed himself so much.

 _I'll protect it,_ she thought grimly, eyes zeroing in on the fallen man _, to do that, we need to keep everyone -even someone like you -alive._

 _For that sake, I hope there's some medicine in there._

* * *

Hey look whats back! For now! Torn between having the dr2 gang come back or not. That was an odd choice of plot point by Kodaka and Koizumi honestly.

Anyway as mentioned before the massive four month or something hiatus I WILL finish this! Eventually.

Thanks for the support and sorry for the wait.


	15. Unfettered

Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa.

* * *

Kyouko didn't regret having run away from the secret passage the first time she'd been there,

Sakakura and Ando had both been after her life. Furthermore, after Kizakura had died, it would have been up to her and Ryouta to survive any physical confrontation. Such an idea was preposterous -neither of them were specialized in combat like Sakakura was, so it was only logical to flee.

But even though she didn't regret it, it still stung to know how much she'd missed out on. The 'secret exit' was a wellspring of resources and new information, and she could think of many times where knowing about it would've greatly benefited her party.

Just looking around from her chair, she could see beds -including one which Munakata was lowering Sakakura into- first aid supplies, food, water and even a row of computers. This was discounting the second room in the corner, which appeared to house some sort of power system, probably one that could be used to deal with the monitors.

It would be important to get to that as quickly as possible. She knew that, and yet-

She looked down at her leg again, and tried to keep the feelings of helplessness and resentment from boiling up.

 _If only crawling didn't hurt so much -I'd rather be crawling than this! I-_

-she shook her head before the thoughts could get to far, complaining about it would achieve nothing, it was better to just accept her dependence for now.

If it was a choice between putting Ryouta in danger and swallowing her pride, then she'd swallow it and put up with having to use Munakata a while longer.

 _Speaking of which_..."Munakata, could you take me over there?" she asked, pointing towards the power room.

He looked over to where she was gesturing, "Are you sure?" he asked, fixing her with a questioning look "I could go over on my own quite easily."

She shook her head, "I want to be there, in case there's anything dangerous set to go off."

Munakata seemed to consider it for a moment before relenting. "Very well," he said finally, "but give me a moment to find some painkillers"

"That's fine," Kyouko agreed, shooting a meaningful look at Sakakura, "but don't take too long."

He nodded, then, after a few seconds where he lingered, left her and Sakakura alone.

Kyouko listened to the sound of his steps as he left, wishing only that he'd move faster, Ryouta's life hung in the balance, after all. That wasn't even mentioning how uncomfortable the situation was, with her chair being so close to Sakakura's.

Truthfully, she had yet to really forgive him for what he'd done. He was necessary for the future, but that was all, and she had no desire to interact with him any further. Even so, as much as she wanted to pass the time in silence, there was still a question burning in her mind, not a mystery, but maybe just a faint hope, and she felt she had to ask.

"Sakakura, you came in here after I left, so why didn't you shut off power back then?"

The man was shocked silent at her words. He seemed surprised it had been her to initiate a conversation, and it took him a few seconds to put the words together.

"Why would I have done that?" he eventually said, shrugging tiredly, "I didn't know about the monitors-"

"Besides," he added quietly, "it would've been easier to deal with Naegi if he couldn't run in the halls."

"You mean to say that it also deactivates the bracelets?!" Kyouko asked sharply, turning to the man as far as she could without hurting her legs.

"I think." Sakakura replied, coughing and averting his eyes, "It said somewhere."

"And you didn't activate it," she hissed, barely keeping the anger out of her voice, "because you knew it'd be easier to kill us all? Even if we were innocent? Even if people like Kizakura and Bando were _dying_?"

Sakakura said nothing, only continuing to look anywhere but her. For a moment, Kyouko considered being more forceful in confronting him about it. Thought about turning to him and yelling about what he'd done to Asahina, Naegi and possibly even Ryouta -about all the futures and possibilities he'd ripped away from her and the world because he couldn't question his orders -but she decided against it. Aside from how much it would hurt to move around in her state, she already knew what his answer was, and she'd always known. Instead she simply sat in silence and waited for Munakata to return.

It was at that time, when Munakata's shoes were starting to echo across the room, that she heard Sakakura say a single, weak sendoff.

"I'm sorry, Kirigiri... I'm sorry..."

Kyouko had already stopped listening even before he'd finished. It was a meaningless apology that wouldn't fix anything they'd already done.

"The future is the time of healing." she replied, careful to keep her voice free of anger, "if you really are sorry, you'll push Munakata to a better path in that time."

"Until then, I won't accept your apologies."

* * *

The wave of relief that hit her when Munakata reached the power room was enormous. Having made it before sleeping time, she knew that if she worked quickly she could protect Mitarai from both his bracelet and the monitors.

 _If only Sakakura had done this before_ , she thought grimly, _Naegi and Asahina would still be alive..._

Thinking of her two friends, Kyouko felt the strength drain out of her. They'd always been something she could count on to succeed, and they'd given her faith as well.

Now she was stuck on her own legs. Legs that had already failed twice, and it hurt -but what hurt even more was wondering what she could've done.

She could've run faster, she could have closed the door, she could've done any number of things. But the only thing she knew could have saved them all had been robbed from her. She couldn't have powered the building down, and that hurt.

It always hurt to know just how little control a person had over their fate, and that there was so little she could do to protect them from that -always made her fearful to realize that for some people, the flip of a switch could mean life and death.

She scoffed inwardly at that _, just a few? What am I thinking. Who knows how many people will be affected by the events here, or how many hearts will lose hope because I'm standing here instead of Naegi._

'Instead of Naegi', she supposed that was the problem, after all, one could say that if Sakakura had done it before, then they'd all be dead too. If Munakata had been able to go through doors, there'd be no situation where they could force him into a negotiation, and he wouldn't have given them a second to speak.

 _We'd have had to kill him. If we could even manage that, who knows what effect that would have on the world. It might have even been greater than Naegi's._

Enoshima, Naegi, Munakata, her father… so few people had changed the face of the earth, scarred and healed it in a battle that was still far from over.

Now she had to join them and help change the world. Had to step up and face the people and tell them their hope had died. To replace him and save what would be lost.

It almost made her want to lose hope, to realize just how long it would take for her -for the world, to be ready, and to realize that they didn't even have that kind of time.

 _But I can't lose hope. I can't, because this is up to me now. I need to heal this world, and wondering about ifs won't do that._ She thought _,_ sighing as she directed Munakata towards the lever, assured that there weren't any traps around.

 _This is the world we have to protect, that won't ever change -and if theres any power in determination, I'll make it._

When they got to the lever, she pulled it down without hesitation, and the already dark room fell into deeper shadows. She heard a short clack as her bracelet fell to the floor.

Kyouko stared at it for a moment. She supposed she should have felt a sense of success at it -she was sure that Munakata did, but all she felt was a dead weight on her chest.

Fourth period had already passed, after all.

The chains that had bound her through that bracelet had already been broken a long time ago.

But at least now, Ryouta will be safe, she would be glad for that, at least.

* * *

Ryouta was preparing to sleep in a closet when the lights turned out and choked him with darkness.

He'd expected the cold fear and the claustrophobia - even the heat and sharp points -but he hadn't been expecting all the lights to go out.

As he blinked, eyes adjusting to the pitch black, he could hear the clack of something hitting the metal flooring, but in his fumbling confusion it seemed quite far away.

He was, after all, a bit too absorbed in trying to push his way out of the pitch black closet to notice anything was amiss -at least until he tripped over and felt his cheek slam into something grooved and hard.

It jarred his teeth, and he could feel tears pricking in his eyes as he lay there on the ground. Silent and unmoving as he bit down the stress of everything that had happened.

He couldn't cry anymore, especially not at something as insignificant as this, not with what he was about to do. -Even if there was no one around to see, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for that.

 _All this happened because I wasn't strong. So I can't ever show weakness again, I don't have the right to do that._

If he'd never been weak -never been stupid and never been fooled -then he'd never have been captured by Enoshima and forced to do something that would destroy the world.

But if he was weak now, then he wouldn't be able to save it, and if he couldn't save it, then how was he supposed to make up for what he'd done?

 _I thought that by joining the Future Foundation, I could fix things, but it won't work, hope always dies because people are weak._

 _I'll eradicate that weakness, in myself first, and then in the rest of the world_.

Rubbing his cheeks with renewed resolve, he blinked the pinpricks away before they could form. After that, he pulled himself up and retreated until he felt the closet wall at his back.

Having found purchase, he kicked out at the door, again and again, until it finally slammed open and the meagre light shone through.

Even though there wasn't much light at all, it was still too much for his recovering eyes, and it forced him to look down until they'd adjusted again.

Looking down at the floor like that, it wasn't long before he'd seen what had smashed against his cheek when he'd fallen down, and for a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming.

It was the white he saw first. The black blended into the rest of the shadows until it was invisible, but the white burned a dull gray against the floor as the bracelet reflected what little light was available.

His hand instinctively went to his wrist, as though to check if what he was seeing was really real and not some dream conjured up by his desperate mind.

It was gone. Obviously it was gone, it was lying on the ground right in front of him.

 _With that bracelet gone, I can freely use the hope video without dying_.

It was almost like a sign.

 _I can do this,_ he thought, the mantra repeating desperately in his head, _I can do this_.

And then he walked. On and on towards the area that had signal, chanting those words in his mind with a fierce hope.

 _If the bracelet is gone, then maybe the attacker was caught and the game is ending._

 _If the game is ending, then I can do this. I can save the world_.

* * *

Heres chapter 15! Hope it doesn't disappoint.

I was actually worried about hitting the word count at one point, but I think I got there in the end.

...Being addicted to mass effect andromeda doesn't help.


	16. Motivations

Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa.

* * *

"We should go up. If there's a way out, then it probably won't be underwater."

It seemed reasonable to Kyouko, and Munakata seemed to agree, nodding along easily.

"Now that there's no power going to the monitors and no bracelets," he noted, "there's nothing to stop our progress, we should take advantage of that and make up for lost time. The only question is whether we head to the broadcast first. It's not very strong, but it might help us find a clue to where we are."

Kyouko considered it, "Perhaps, but only if the entrance is blocked. It wouldn't do to waste time."

 _For all we know, there could be people outside already. After all, Naegi did contact Komaru and Fukawa, if they were smart, then they'd contact Togami for a rescue_.

"Either way, we'll have to leave won't we." Munakata mused. Kyouko noted that he looked rather unsettled about it.

 _He must be worried about Sakakura_ , she thought, feeling rather bitter about it, _even though he killed and hurt his comrades, he still has someone who cares enough to forgive him._

 _Even so…_ she thought, pushing the bitterness away and trying to remain objective _, I suppose I have no right to look down on Munakata for that, for I too hold my friends close_.

 _It's always hard to let go._

"We've done all we can anyway," Kyouko replied neutrally, "if the Future Foundation doesn't arrive soon, all the watch in the world won't keep him from bleeding out."

"I know that, Kirigiri," Munakata sighed, reaching his arm out and having her clamber onto his back again, "I just hope he lasts long enough."

* * *

"So what do you think was Tengan's motive?"

Munakata scoffed, "Despair doesn't need a motive, besides, shouldn't I be asking _you_ that, detective?"

She shook her head, "even a detective cannot find answers without evidence," Kyouko replied coolly, "I never knew Tengan, so I couldn't know, but you did, didn't you?"

Munakata was very quiet at that.

"I thought I knew him," he said eventually, "but I also thought I knew Chisa, and it turns out I didn't know either of them at all."

"Even so," Kyouko said delicately, not wanting to prod too much on the subject of Yukizome, "surely you'd have some idea of the reason behind his actions, or his further plans?"

"Sometimes I do think about it," he muttered, "why a despair would do all this, would support the future foundation through this whole war... and I wonder, if this whole time, we were nothing more than sacrifices."

"Engineered to die here, you mean."

"...The future foundation has become a beacon of hope," he explained, "even more so after the 78th class joined us and defeated Enoshima… if we were all just sacrifices made to die here, it would drive all those we've rescued to despair…"

 _A cunning plan fit for Tengan_ , Kyouko thought.

"It's still hard for me to believe," Munakata muttered, "that everything I've done up till now has just been a part of their manipulations-"

"-Even if that was the case," Kyouko interrupted, "it wouldn't change the fact that we can still guide our own fates from here.

"Even with more than half our number eliminated?" Munakata questioned.

"So long as we refuse to give up, the foundation will not fall." Kyouko said "The dead will be succeeded, and the people will move on, so long as it's leadership is strong."

"That is why" she added pointedly, " you can't be losing faith in yourself here."

There was chuckle, but there was no joy in it, "you think I'm strong?" Munakata asked, slowing. He craned his neck toward her and stared at her with a questioning, almost disappointed look, "the person who attacked and wounded his own friend -became a tool of what he hated? Don't be ridiculous, Kirigiri. I'm no longer fit to lead the foundation."

Kyouko met his gaze unflinchingly, "Maybe you aren't strong," she said sternly, "but neither am I, nor Sakakura, or Mitarai. None of us were particularly strong, but we made it here because we stood together."

"It's the same here. The only way we'll get through this is if we work together." she added, tone commanding, "So I won't allow you to run away from your responsibilities."

Munakata stared at her for a second, then turned his neck away, sighing.

"The last word I'd use to describe you is weak, if anything, you should be the leader after this…"

"We can start a council," Kyouko said dryly. "As for Tengan," she continued, with just enough confidence that she could feel herself beginning to smirk, "we'll just have to spite him as much as we can from here on in."

He scoffed, "Well when you put it like that, it doesn't sound so complicated."

"Emotions rarely are."

"The reality is still complicated, though. We may not find an entrance so easily."

"Of course," Kyouko agreed, "which is why we shouldn't be stopping here."

"Of course," Munakata sighed, shaking his head, "though I will note one thing about Tengan."

"And what is that?"

"The chairman always seemed interested in Mitarai," he explained "and considering Mitarai is the one who created the video. It might be worth finding him-"

"Are you accusing Mitarai?" Kyouko interrupted, disbelieving, "there's no way he'd ever aid despair! It's psychologically inconceivable for him!"

"I'm not accusing him of anything," Munakata said quickly, "I'm just pointing out that if anyone other than me knew anything about Tengan, it would have been Mitarai."

* * *

"If you've received this video. It's already over."

It had only been a few hours since Ryouta had heard the Chairman's -his mentor's voice, but it had felt like ages fumbling in the dark without it. He was glad to have received this message, to be able to hear it again, even if only for a moment -but he was _so_ confused at the same time.

 _Why now? After he's already died? Could it have something to do with the bracelets coming off?_

-But that would be assuming that the Chairman had known about the game before hand, maybe had even had something to _do_ with its creation, and that was just impossible-

"I know it might be hard for youngsters like you to understand," Tengan continued, "but when you're old and don't have much time left like me, hope is having young people to entrust the future to."

His words were kind as always, bringing a warmth to Ryouta's heart in spite of his growing unrest.

 _I hoped I'd be worth i_ t, he thought sadly, the warmth fading quickly as his mind flew back to the chairman's untimely death, _I hoped_ -

"The students of hope's peak academy, which I had dedicated my life to, they represent my hope, and they've grown into fine people, who now form the pillar of the future foundation."

"These pillars of hope, and guides for humanity, if they were to betray, deceive and kill each other…"

Tengan seemed to grow sad at that point, his entire being seeming to fall into the chair. Ryouta felt himself falling too, knowing that they'd disappointed the chairman, who had stood with the foundation since the beginning.

 _He always helped me, and I promised I'd make it up to him, promised I'd fix what I'd done, promised I'd bring the world hope._

Ryouta had been the one to destroy the world, he knew that tengan had known that, and yet he'd never turned him in. Never punished him because he believed that he could do something to help.

 _But I wasn't fast enough. Wasn't strong enough to stop this._

 _-Even so, the chairman still believes in me. Like he always has._

That belief had always helped him when he struggled, even now, seeing the chairman's face like that renewed his resolve.

"I cannot think of anything that would cause more despair." the chairman continued grimly, "The thought of seeing you all crying and shedding blood, twisted by despair, it makes me deeply and incredibly sad."

"No one will be crying anymore, soon," Ryouta muttered, eyes fixed on the screen, "please trust in me chairma-"

But then something awful happened. Something wrong. The chairman -smiled? Even though he'd only just been talking about how much it had hurt?

But why would he be smiling at all that-

"Which is why I ended up doing it!"

The entire world went silent. Even Ryouta's own heart and mind seemed to have ceased action at the chairman's words.

The world tipped and Ryouta fell to the ground, mind racing and fumbling through the chaos.

 _W-what?_

He couldn't even process it. The chairman had wanted this game? Had had something to do with betraying and killing all of them?

 _Why_?

But Ryouta knew that despair was the reason, it was the only reason that ever mattered.

He looked at his phones screen, slightly cracked and frozen on the point of the chairmans smiling face.

 _Was he a despair...the entire time-_

 _-Did he think of us in that way… the entire time?_

 _But then why did he save me? Was that also for the sake of despair?_

Ryouta felt sick at the idea. That he could still have been aiding despair, all this time after having promised that he never would again.

It made him feel weak, made him feel like falling down and crying right there until there was nothing left in his heart.

-But he couldn't. Because this dream of fixing the world, -of making it right again -was still his even if it had been a lie to Tengan.

 _I -I-_

"I'll fix it." he whispered to himself, voice straining from the tears he hadn't realized were falling till now, "I'll get rid of despair."

He said it, over and over. Desperately trying to walk in a world that was twisted blurred from teary eyes.

But as much as he said it, the world didn't right itself, and the tears never stopped.

He hated it. Hated this weakness that had been cursing him for so long. Hated despair and hated the struggle.

He hated having made the world this way, hated that Tengan had betrayed him and used his greatest mistake to make the world even worse.

"I-I'll fix it."

 _If only I could do the same to myself_.

* * *

Got a tablet recently. came with extreme buyers remorse and pressure to digitally draw every day, so the writing came slow. here it is though! Thanks to the calm before the exams storm where homework is scarce!

Hope you all enjoy!


	17. Utility

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

Keeping to their forward march, it wasn't long before Kyouko and Munakata found their way out into the night. With the attacker dealt with, there was nothing to hold Munakata back anymore, and with an injured Sakakura desperately waiting for treatment, there was no shortage of motivation driving him.

As for Kyouko, she had no problem with it. Speed and progress were things she'd been hoping for, and when her legs had first been damaged, she'd feared that she would be unable to make such progress again.

It would have been stifling to run with a leg like that on her own, and even now, the rough travels occasionally sent shocks of burning pain through her leg and up her spine. Even so, through all the pain, their progress allowed Kyouko to hold fast and foster a genuine hope.

She still wished she could be more independent and move on her own, of course, but with the main threat dealt with and nothing to worry about, Kyouko was happy to take the help now and recover later.

 _After all, this might even be faster than what I could manage on my own legs. So if this help allows me to help Ryouta and escape this despair, then I'll accept whatever discomfort may come._

As for whatever that warmth was, gratitude, hope- she'd allow it, she'd take anything that helped her face this world and protect the friends she had left.

 _Whether it be Munakata's strength, or Ryouta's, or Touko's, Hagakure's or Togami's, I'll take it. I won't fail Naegi again._

Perhaps she'd even take Sakakura's strength, despite what he had done, one day. After all, with things being the way they were, she couldn't afford to be picky.

These thoughts occupied her until Munakata forced his way through the final door and broke into the nighttime. For a single moment, before seeing any of the rocks or destruction around them, Kyouko felt the wind on her skin and the stars above her for the first time in what felt like a hundred years, and was awestruck.

It felt beautiful, like everything was finally over.

But it wasn't yet. That became obvious as soon as the wonder wore off, and the cool feeling of the wind gave way to the sight of the dust covered building before her.

"it seems we really have been under the headquarters the whole time."

"You can even see the building under the water, though it could be mistaken for a reflection," Munakata noted grimly, nodding "Though luckily this means that any search party they sent after us wouldn't have to look far."

 _This whole game wouldn't have lasted very long at all, really. The chairman must have expected us to kill each other off very quickly._

But now wasn't the time to think about the failed plans of a dead man. "We should look around to see if anyone else has come to the island to search for us," she said, looking down at Munakata, who'd also frozen upon reaching the surface, "or, failing that, to find some way to contact them."

"The building seems like a fairly clear indication," he muttered, turning his head towards its cracked, blown remains, "but there's no harm in searching any farther. Are you ready?"

"Of course, as fast as you'd like."

* * *

They needn't have traveled fast, because their search was concluded quickly. After all, aside from the blasted ruins of their former headquarters, the area was almost completely empty. In a barren lot like that, any changes would certainly stick out, and they had.

No, it wasn't that finding the people they needed had been difficult. They'd run across a search party in only a few minutes, rather, the trouble came after.

At first it had all seemed to be going well. The insignia's upon the soldier's arms had shown them to be members of the Future Foundation, and with this island having been well guarded until recently, the chances of them being disguised remnants of despair was low. In spite of this, their dead silence and odd movements after he had drawn close struck Kyouko as very suspicious.

Kyouko wasn't naive, she knew that being surrounded by men with their weapons drawn was a bad situation to be in, even if those surrounding her seemed to be on her side. Even so, she could've simply written it off as normal military dealings, for she hadn't the experience to say otherwise.

 _But if that were the case_ , Kyouko thought grimly, looking down with a sick feeling in her stomach, _then Munakata wouldn't be tense as well_.

"Identify yourselves and your commanding officer." Munakata commanded, backing away slightly towards a possible escape route, "-and lower your weapons at once."

None of the soldiers heeded their request, continuing to keep their weapons drawn and raised. However, one of the soldiers, suggested by his outfit to be of higher rank than the others, came forward and spoke.

"Our commander has ordered for us to detain everyone at the headquarters in the lobby," he said, cold voice setting off alarm bells behind Kyouko's eyes, "with force if necessary."

 _It's not natural for someone's voice to be so monotone, something here is obviously wrong_. Kyouko noted. She tried to remember all the other times where she'd heard such a monotone voice, but the only thing that came to mind was despair, or those close to it. Munakata had clearly surmised as much as well, as he was taking a far more forceful approach to securing their escape route.

"I, the head of the 2nd division: Munakata Kyousuke, overturn that order" he replied irritably, expression darkening as the men failed to acknowledge it, only continuing in their stone faced efforts to surround them, "Lower your weapons and explain what happened to the headquarters at once."

"You do not have the authority to overturn this order."

"I..." Munakata began to reply, but trailed off for a moment, "I am the acting leader of the Future Foundation, my orders are absolute."

The soldier hadn't seemed to notice his pause, "Our commander has ordered us to detain everyone at the headquarters in the lobby, with force if necessary."

"I will say it once more. I, the head of the second division, overturn that order."

"You do not have the authority to overturn this order" the soldier repeated, "failure to comply with this order a third time will be taken as resistance."

"Munakata-"

"I know Kirigiri." he said tersely, cutting her off before she could continue, "Just hold on for now."

"Are you resisting?" The man asked, body going tense even as his voice remained dead.

Munakata didn't answer, staring for a few tense seconds, before kicking out a dust cloud and leaping towards a wall of sandbags, racing through them to the closest cover he could find.

From there came the chase, the hurried scuffle through the gunfire as Munakata desperately tried to keep ahead of the soldiers fire and into a defensible position.

Kyouko could barely keep track of the chaos, and although she tried to settle her heart, she found it impossible to quiet the beating.

It wasn't that she'd never experienced combat before, but when she had, it had always been at a comfortable distance, with men beside her and a gun in her hands, she had never belonged in the thick of it, and yet here she was, clinging onto a man that may as well have been a stormtrooper.

In spite of this, all the flight in the world didn't change the fact that she was starting to feel like they were a pair of rats, scurrying to hole after hole and fleeing whenever they heard boots on the ground.

This won't last forever," she warned, as they found their latest hiding spot, "You need to thin out their ranks or we'll both die."

"I can't fight right now." he said, after a moment of tired panting, quickly but with a note of concern, "To be blunt, you are a burden."

"There's no reason to be polite in this," Kyouko replied, exasperated, legs aching as though to remind her, "I'm aware of that. Obviously you'll need to find a place to put me."

"Unacceptable," he stated simply, "If I were to leave you alone somewhere and you were located -it wouldn't be just your life, but the future of this foundation."

His reaction came as a surprise to her, although considering the doubt he'd displayed in their last conversation, it probably shouldn't have.

"While I appreciate you concern." Kyouko muttered, voicing low and frustrated "I'm afraid that running around like this will only lead to both of our deaths. If you leave me, then, even if I am found, there will still be one person alive."

Munakata was stubborn "If anyone should live, it should be the one who can best serve the needs of the world."

"I'm glad you realized that, since you will also realize that a pair of corpses has nothing to offer. Now leave me."

Munakata bristled, "find a better plan."

"There _is_ no better plan." Kyouko whispered urgently.

"There must be!" Munakata all but yelled, "you asked me to have faith in you! So think of a way out of this!"

"Well sometimes there is no way out!" Kyouko exploded, "Sometimes we just have to cut our losses and proceed with the most practical outcome!"

"Ah yes," he responded, words coloured with spite, "Practicality! The method that led to the deaths and injuries of how many at my hand! That's exactly what we need to place our hopes on right now!"

"Practica- Don't be an idiot!" Kyouko exclaimed, abandoning any pretense of subtlety, "You didn't fail because you were reasonable, you failed because you lost hope!"

"And as crushing as that is," she continued, too tired and angry to hide the false sympathy "to sit around contemplating your failures while people around you suffer and wait for you to pick yourself up is also a failure. You are the one who is tasked with saving those people, and that makes you just as important to the future of this world as I am, so I won't allow you to die pointlessly here."

 _I won't be the one who destroys the world Naegi wanted to save._ She thought, desperately hoping her thoughts would reach Munakata, _if losing myself will help the world, then that is my hope, please understand this_.

For the umpteenth time that day, she wished she could run, or kick out, or hold any power change the world that was greater than her words.

But though it was hard to connect to another, her words were all she had, so she placed her faith in them.

But when she looked up at the Munakata's face, and saw nothing but a cold anxiety there, she felt her heart fall.

"This is a mistake." he muttered, voice filled with dread, "The Foundation needs a leader who knows when they're being toyed with, who can trust themselves _not_ to wallow."

"That doesn't make it a mistake," Kyouko replied quietly, shaking her head, "that makes it a chance to make up for what you've done. Sacrificing yourself for me is more than worthless, it's running away from what you did."

Munakata was silent at that, staring icily at her as he absorbed her outburst. Even so, Kyouko refused to let up, staring at him resolutely, as though her eyes would burn the rationale into his heart.

She waited, hoping that ice would melt and he'd finally see through the foolishness he'd bound himself with, and act.

"One more stop."

Her heart froze.

"One more stop," Munakata repeated, "and then I will leave you somewhere secure. After that, I will fight to distract them."

"If I should fall, then before that happens, you must figure out a way to save yourself, and to stop the commander of these men." he looked at her, then, an honest plea in his eyes, "Please Kirigiri, save yourself."

Kyouko looked back at him, heart soaring and eyes burning, "I expect the same of you."

 _After all, we came this far, we'll go the rest of the way._

* * *

So heres something vaguely amusing. I had five plot points mapped out for this cause I thought I'd run out of word count, then I found out about a site called fighters block. It turns out vicarious life or death pressure and rpg competitiveness can definitely make you accidentally word vomit to keep ahead of the curve, so now I have 1.9k words, a dubious character voice and... three less plot points than I wanted...

Oh well. Enjoy! and thanks for the support!


	18. Regroup

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

Kyouko didn't know if she was prepared to die. She wasn't sure if there were ever many people who were capable of that. She knew that Naegi had been ready, as much as it had hurt, and Junko, as twisted as she was, hadn't hesitated either in those final moments.

She had suspicions that Munakata, too, was prepared to die for what he'd done. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, and that he'd put his life to a more practical redemption. He had to, since considering recent events, he was going to be the last person remaining who could stop this anyway.

No one could count on her anymore, because she was already surrounded. Surrounded and staring down the barrel of a rifle without having even found a hint of Ryouta or their true enemy.

She supposed that this was unavoidable in the end. She'd known the that this was the risk she'd taken in sending Munakata away, but she'd still done it, because it had seemed the more rational option. If he had kept fleeing with her, they both would have died. If he left, there was a chance that she'd die, but also a chance that he'd live. If they'd been especially lucky, then she might have remained hidden until the end and made it out as well. She'd been hoping for that -an unsubstantiated, irrational hope that the both of them would survive.

But that hope had been crushed, as they'd tended to for these past few hours, and in these moments, all she could feel was tired acceptance of her failures. She hadn't been able to keep her promise to Naegi, hadn't been able to make his sacrifice in her worthwhile, and she hadn't even redeem her failures in protecting the others. Asahina had died, and Ryouta had vanished, perhaps dead himself.

It might not have been her fault -maybe there was nothing she could've done, but her heart wasn't set to forgiving herself, and only sank deeper into regret as she waited for the end to come.

But even as she sank into regret, she couldn't fall into despair. Something wouldn't let her. A feeling that, even if it wouldn't fail anyone at this point -even if no one she cared about was around to see her fall -she still wanted to stay true to the dream that they'd all fought for. Even if she wasn't prepared to die, she'd still die with the dignity their efforts afforded.

So she didn't scream, even as they took her by the arms and dragged her along the floor, ignoring the way her injured leg tore and bled. She didn't do anything but glare and bite her lip, telling whoever it was that was commanding these men that they wouldn't have the satisfaction of breaking her. That she'd fight till the end for the hope they'd all believed in.

Maybe that would satisfy her too.

* * *

Though she was glad that she'd never once screamed, Kyouko had to admit that the transport had left her a mess of pain and fatigue by the end. She'd stopped really paying attention to where they were, and only became aware of the world when they mercifully stopped, granting her the respite she needed to think the situation out.

The first thing she noticed was, obviously enough, that she was still alive. It was really quite strange that even though they'd surrounded her, they hadn't killed her. Instead they'd tied her up and brought her to this blasted room. This proved that they had some further agenda for her, which gave her a little bit of hope. If Munakata could deal with their enemy before they finished with her, there was still a chance that they could wring a victory out of this.

As for what their intentions were, Kyouko could guess just by looking at the room around her. Although the infrastructure had been completely ruined by whatever disaster had befallen the building, its large board sized monitor was still somehow intact.

 _Its obvious that this will involve the despair video somehow, but if that's the case, so long as I refuse to look at it, things will be fine._

Furthermore, considering that the video wasn't already playing. She could only assume the time would come hourly like in the death game.

 _Meaning I have only 10 minutes left before I am brainwashed._

If there were any chance of the men remaining, she'd've been worried, since it would be within their abilities to force her to watch. However, since the men themselves couldn't be in the room as the video played, they would almost certainly leave before it started. This, along with the fact that she would need her hands free in order to commit suicide, led her to believe there would be a time, if brief, where she would be left to her own devices.

She searched the room, she planned, she looked at the clock, two minutes had passed.

 _It's what comes afterwards that the problem. The video is meant to drive me to despair so I kill myself, but if it were just my death they were after, they'd just shoot me. Therefore I can assume that the only reason I'm still alive right now is the sadistic desires of these men -they want to see me fall to despair, and_ then _die. The question is whether that desire will stop them from killing me if I survive this._

6 minutes.

The chances were low, meaning she'd have to find some way to escape soon after the video ended. Luckily, if they decided to give her some time as she offed herself, that would afford her a window of time where noises in the room would be expected.

If she could push some rubble in front of the door, it could work as a barricade, but she'd need time to do that.

4 minutes left.

Why weren't they leaving? If they were in the room when the video played, it would kill them. Did they intend to watch this all with her? Perhaps, as members of despair, they'd be fine with dying if it meant they could reach the mindset of someone like Enoshima.

She couldn't fight. Not physically. Such a miscalculation could end her life. She had to come up with something, but what could she do when surrounded like this. Even if she wasn't wounded-

She looked to the clock, there were 2 minutes left. Perhaps if she closed her eyes-

Before she could continue the thought, the ceaseless thrumming of her mind was interrupted by a loud crash behind her. The men looked back in unison just as Kyouko heard something fall behind her. She almost turned around, before a searing light painted the screen in front of her white and an explosion of noise deafened her ears.

Things happened quickly after that- though she could suppose it was all within five seconds. Unable to hear, she twisted around to see Hagakure running up to her, grabbing her by the arm and roughly dragging her. She saw him yell towards Togami, who was laying down covering fire from the door, but she couldn't hear any words.

She couldn't speak as they dragged her outside, so even though she bled, she ran as hard as she could on trembling legs. She was just barely dragged into the hall by Hagakure as Togami threw a grenade into the room and slammed the door shut.

Hagakure jumped forwards, pulling her into a fall, and Togami threw himself against the wall next to them.

Her ears recovered just in time to hear the explosion, and feel the heat sear her back.

* * *

"Sorry Kyouko-cchi. Munakata told us that your leg was wounded, but I panicked and forced you to run on it…"

"That's fine," Kyouko sighed, grabbing some bandages Togami had left out, "With the situation being what it was, no one would expect much more."

Even though she'd been in a dazed at first after the explosions, coming to this area had given her the time to calm down and since it had a wealth of resources and medicine, soon Hagakure's mistake would be meaningless anyway. More importantly-

"So you already met Munakata then"

"He ran into our hiding place." Togami said spitefully, "Almost drew the soldiers to us too, and after we'd tried so hard to find somewhere safe."

"But it's good, right?" Hagakure said positively, "We wouldn't have found Kyouko-chi if we hadn't met him! Now we can find everyone else too! Right Kyouko chi?"

He was looking at her with such expectancy, she couldn't bring herself to tell him that aside from a single injured, they were all that was left. _It would cause him to panic anyway._

"It would be better…" she started, trying to keep the pain in her chest out of her words, "if we were to deal with our problems first. More people...would make it hard to move around."

"I guess that's true…" he replied, deflating, "but I just felt we could use the help."

"You act as though we'll be capable of doing anything about this." Togami growled, "unless you can _divine_ a plan, the best thing to do would be to hold out and wait for Munakata to deal with this -this insanity."

"If you're calling it 'insanity' then I'd take it that even you two don't know what caused it?"

Togami scoffed, "all I know is that the men went off to secure Mitarai, and came back shooting at everyone they couldn't force to sit in front of a screen. What happened in between then and now is a mystery, so you deal with it."

"You sent men after Ryouta and they were brainwashed?!" Kyouko exclaimed, unable to quite remain calm- _why would that happen unless someone had already reached him? Could he be in danger? A third party hired by Tengan? Or maybe- no, it couldn't be_.

And yet nothing else made sense. Togami had trusted the men before they'd turned, that all but proved that this really was insanity, and not some drawn out coup. In that case, the only method of brainwashing they knew of was the despair video, but if they'd used that then they would have committed suicide. So the only explanation for this was...

The words stilled in her mind as her heart rebelled against the conclusion she was forming. She'd already lost so many friends already, she didn't want to lose another. It would be easy to just turn her eyes away.

 _No one would know if I just said 'I don't know.'_

 _I'm sure that there are some out there who'd even forgive me for doing such a thing...but_

Naegi had given her a dream to fulfill, a world full of hope to create, and they all believed in it. She owed it to all of them, the fallen, the living, the brainwashed, the free. It was what gave her strength, held back her screams, and brought the people who had saved her here together.

Even if it hurt to accuse the one she'd wanted to protect, she still had to accuse him. Because it was her job to find the path to that dream through the truth.

 _The only explanation for this...is that a new video was created, and the only one who could have done such a thing... is Ryouta._

 _-But even so, I refuse to believe that Ryouta had fallen to despair. Throughout this game, he's been far too totally dedicated to its destruction. There's more to this story than I know, and I can't make a judgement until I've heard it all._

That was the way to the future, and the way of a detective.

"You seem like _you_ might know something, though," Togami smirked, bringing her back to reality with a narrowed look, "so I'd appreciate it if you'd care to tell us what's been happening, up here AND down there, please."

* * *

Here's chapter 18! Thanks to everyone for supporting me so far! Should be getting to the ending soon!

...Remember when i had enough creativity and free time to get these out on a schedule. I remember. I miss those days... Anyway, school is back and so is homeowrk so things will get even slower I'm afraid. (what with me working a switchy routine with my updates and all. RE is pain to edit.)


	19. End of the night

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

"A killing game in the future foundation ending with 9 dead and 3 injured, huh." Togami sighed. Although he was keeping his eye on the hallway in front of them, the disdain was evident in his voice, "I suppose it could've been worse."

Hagakure seemed far less confident, though that might have just been the stress of him carrying her wearing on him. "But with all the leaders dead how will we make food?" he sputtered, "and medicine? How will we protect and supply people? We can't run the foundation without the leadership!"

"That's what the chain of command is for," Kyouko assured him, _not that it'll matter if we can't stop this coup_.

"What's more important is if it's even safe for us to be running around the halls like this." Togami asked, "Mitarai created another video. lf he starts playing it on the monitors, we won't be able to continue."

She shook her head, "The way those soldiers treated me implied that video's still follow the hourly rule. So long as we keep away from the monitors at every interval, we should be fine. What's more important is finding Ryouta so that we can hear his intentions in all this."

 _Something must have happened to him to make him do this. If he was really a member of despair, he wouldn't have hesitated in using this video before now. With the authority he had as the leader of the propaganda division, he could have pulled a worldwide broadcast anytime he'd wanted._

 _The reason why he'd done this now, and the reason why he'd never done so before, they were two things she had to ascertain, or else she'd never find the ideal solution._

"I take it you have an idea of where he is then." Togami asked.

Kyouko nodded, "If he wants to do anything groundbreaking with that video, the obvious place would be the broadcasting area. We need to get there before whatever video caused the guards to rebel spreads across the entire world."

"We should speed up then,"

"Yes."

"Actually..." Hagakure said, panting, "could we slow down a bit…."

It took an unnerving amount of time for them to reach the broadcasting area. With traitors all over the building looking for them, and rubble often blocking their routes, Kyouko started to wonder if there was even still a route up to it through the building. Even so, they couldn't leave, as there were too many enemies on the ground for them to even conceive of taking that route.

With no avenues left, Hagakure and Togami simply walked and bled silently. Crawling through through room after room, running through corridor after corridor, holding their breaths as they were hunted like animals by their own men. Hiding their eyes and covering their ears every hour to close their minds to despair.

Ultimately though, all that crawling led them to the place they needed to be, and by the end of it they were standing before the broadcasting area.

The feeling of the wind on her face was a blessing after the claustrophobia of the building, but it did nothing to warm the freezing dread in Kyouko's heart.

"Kyouko-chi..."

"What?"

"Your grip..."

She felt herself pale as she looked down, absentmindedly noting that she had indeed been digging into Hagakure's shoulders with her hands. Quickly, she released him, trying to keep her balance without grabbing onto him.

"...I apologise, Hagakure, It's been a long day," she said, mortified at having been so transparent.

"It's not a problem! This is probably scary right?"

"Well, perhaps not 'scary'." she mused, thinking. It was impossible to deny that she felt anxious about the situation, but it wasn't fear that was tearing away at her nerves. Rather, it was the thought of having to judge Ryouta.

 _After everything that's happened, can I really judge him objectively?_

 _A part of me already believes that he is a despair, yet another part of me thinks of him as a friend, if I'm thinking thoughts that are so irreconcilable, then doesn't it point to a conflict of interests?_

 _No, even more than that, would ignoring my interests even be the correct choice? Naegi may have judged, but he never closed his heart. Isn't that why people viewed him as righteous?_

She was a detective, not a judge. She hadn't concerned herself with judgement until recently. Even if she' d tried, Naegi had always been better. So it had suited her just fine to leave the judging to him, once she'd prosecuted the criminals thoroughly.

Then he'd died, and she's been forced to change. To look at the end of things instead of just the likelihood. Her actions would influence the big picture, now that she was one of the few division leaders left, so she had to be able to take that stand.

She hadn't known if she could do it, at first, but the moment she'd opened her heart and decided to defend her friends, it had given her the strength to cast aside the fog of anxiety that had held her down.

 _But now one of those friends is at stake, and that decision is holding me back. Believing in others was always fine, but when the evidence is so damning, can I really give my own feelings towards Ryouta the same kind of weight?_

But she couldn't just abandon hope either. it was the gift Naegi had given her in that killing game, and it had helped her immeasurably in these intervening years. it was hope that made her lobby for more merciful punishments, and to connect to the people who looked to her as a division leader.

 _I cannot judge him logically anymore than I can control my own heart, and yet I cannot judge him while having already decided he's irredeemable. How am I to judge him then-_

"-Well no matter what happens, you can count on me to have your back!"

Hagakure's words shocked her out of her panic. She almost fell off his back, but he quickly grabbed her arms and secured them around his neck.

"You shouldn't say that," she sighed eventually, feeling a lightness as the tension drained out, "If I make a mistake, you'll have to point it out."

"Me?!" he choked, "that's an awful idea! You should be counting on Togami if anyone!"

"Perhaps I'll count on both of you." she wondered idly, "After all, you've been reliable thus far." _At carrying me, at least._

Togami snorted, "reliable is an odd choice of words for him, but you can indeed count on me."

I suppose I'll have to hope I can, Kyouko thought, holding back a smile, _and if he offers, I should take him up on it._

"In that case I have a question."

"And what would that be, Kirigiri?"

At the sound of the newest speaker's voice, Kyouko almost toppled for a third time as they all spun around to face him.

"Munakata!?" came Hagakure's yell.

"Hagakure." the man replied politely. Bloodied, beaten, yet undeniably alive, "it's good to see you are well, too, Kirigiri." he added, seeming to read her thoughts.

"I... well it would've been quite ironic for you to die and me to live. I suppose this outcome is expected."

"Indeed," he nodded, "though I should thank you two for keeping the detective safe, shouldn't I."

"You're welcome," Togami, replied, unimpressed.

"it's fine for me to help my friends-"

"Anyway," Togami continued, ignoring Hagakure and getting back to business, "your question?"

"I was going to ask what justice was," she said casually.

Her question was met with long silence.

"J-justice?" Hagakure eventually stuttered, mystified.

"Justice." Togami confirmed, shaking his head tiredly, "What a question."

"I- I see. Justice huh...Well..." Hagakure started awkwardly, "Naegi thought it was to always believe the best of others right till the end, no matter what."

"He never approved of martial punishment," Togami added, "always refused to speak in favour of it.-"

"but that was hope, not justice." Munakata pointed out, before eventually relenting "that isn't to say it was never just. Perhaps at times the foundation was too harsh."

"I see," Kyouko noted, nodding, "So he was just even though he looked past their flaws." _Perhaps looking past their flaws is a part of judging them._

"But believing in an ideal person who may not exist can put people at risk," Munakata warned, "If you walk into that studio with preconceptions, it could destroy the world."

"...It seems I was being too transparent," Kyouko muttered, looking down for a second, before looking him straight in the eyes, "but I still wish to believe in him. His profile-"

"Could have been faked."

"Or perhaps it's simply complicated," she fired back, "perhaps what we need to do is look at it from a different perspective."

"If you believe that you can read minds, then feel free." Munakata replied tersely, "but keep in mind what's at stake here."

"God," he muttered, "it's not like I wouldn't trust you, you know." he added, sounding honest, "You have yet to steer truly wrong, so have faith in yourself. We are here to back you up."

In the silence that ensued, Kyouko realised his honest reply had quieted her heart. Whether it was spite or respect, she wanted to prove Naegi's beliefs to be correct.

 _Look at it from a different perspective, eh, I'll have to manage that._

 _And if I can't, they'll help me._

* * *

And here we are! Right at the end. If it feels like filler, thats because it is. I was at around 800 words when I got to the point where Kyouko could confront Ryouta, but I didn't want to spend 300 on him then suddenly quit the chapter, so I kinda dragged on a little :I sorry.

The thing about 1000 word chapters is that if you go above. its super serious, but if you go below, ur weak. (at least in my weird mind.)

Oh well, I hope it still feels substantive.


	20. Liberty

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

Utopia… to Ryouta, that had been the meaning of hope. A world without conflict, without sadness, where people could just live their lives happily with the people and things they loved.

After the tragedy, his idea of utopia had shifted -from some unattainable paradise at the height of naivete -to their own old lives that they'd never understood the value of. Even their old lives seemed unattainable now.

 _And even if we do manage to get things back to normal, what then?! We'll still be dealing with this terror forever because humans will always carry despair in them and we can't be safe like that!_

Everything they built could be torn down in a single second at the hands of despair. It waited in the darkness of people's hearts and minds, for people like Enoshima, Kamakura...him.

All it takes is two madmen and one coward to destroy the world, and there's no way to fight it. No matter how strong you are, despair will hurt you -despair will _kill_ you. You can be the ultimate hope, and still throw your life away out of hopelessness. You can be the ultimate detective, and still crumble when left alone. You can be the vice president of the entire Future Foundation, and still turn on your heel when it comes down to the wire.

You can be nothing but an innocent, unimportant animator, and you can still be locked in a dark room and destroy the world, just to save yourself.

"Even if we reclaim the world, it'll always be in peril. Is something like authenticity worth it? If I could force everyone to smile, why shouldn't I do it?"

He directed the question at no one in particular, all the men in the facility had already been brainwashed, so he hadn't been expecting an answer in his moment of weakness -to his own admission that he couldn't even trust his own heart.

But even though he hadn't expected it, he'd gotten one, footsteps echoing through the entrance and making him spin around in a wide eyed shock.

"Because that would steal the right of a person to grieve."

The voice was familiar. He'd heard it countless times today. Sometimes cold, sometimes full of emotion. He'd even heard it crying, wailing hopelessness into the world.

Right now it was strong, it sent his heart pounding, and it questioned him like he was a criminal.

He supposed it was fitting, she was a detective, after all, it was her talent, her job, to question criminals.

"Pain is a part of being human," a voice added, drawing Ryouta's attention so that the idle shapes that had been near Kyouko came into focus. It was an unbelievable scene, Munakata and an advocate of Naegi's standing side by side -three advocates of Naegi, actually- a miracle that would have been worthy of hope -if she hadn't had that burned leg, "it's not something you can force everyone to give up."

"Are you saying that you like pain!?" Ryouta exclaimed, unable to believe him. Up until recently, he too, had been trying to destroy despair, just like him, so why did he turn his back on it now? "That if you could forget all your grief, all of the pain that you felt over Ms Yukizome, you wouldn't?"

Munakata's jaw clenched at that, and a dark, cynical part of Ryouta's heart leapt at the sight of his weakness. _Don't you see, this is why I have to do this-_

But his victory was short lived. Any weakness that Munakata had was swept aside by Kyouko, "don't presume that merely because one person wants something that everyone does. I would never give up my pain."

 _Of course,_ Ryouta thought, cursing himself for having forgotten her for even a moment, _otherwise you wouldn't have come here in the first place, right?_

"If you refuse to grieve, it's the same as dishonouring the dead. I don't want to forget Naegi, even if it hurts."

"B- but, it's not just about you! All over the world, people are suffering, dying because of despair! Their sadness hurts others!"

"In a few, select cases!" Kyouko stressed, "We can't pretend that this tragedy is only a result of human nature! If it was, then the world would have ended long before now!"

"But the state of the world has already changed." Ryouta replied weakly, "it's in a delicate state, and who knows if it will ever recover."

"Even so we have to try!"

"We have tried! We lost! Even Naegi-"

"Naegi wouldn't have wanted this!" Kyouko exclaimed, almost rising out of anger, before her subordinate pushed her back down, "He would never have wanted to just forget his friends and move on -he"

She could still remember those times when they'd been alone. Just the six survivors of the killing game. They'd all lost something there and every one of them would feel it, from time to time.

Naegi always tried to hide it, but every now and then she'd catch him staring off at one of the photo's they'd recovered from the building after Enoshima's passing. Photos from those two years when they'd all been students together, when the despair of the outside world had seemed non existent.

He'd trace over them all, even Ikusaba and Enoshima, despite all they'd done, and he'd falter on every one, breath hiking in pain, and treasured yet harsh memories dancing in his mind.

And then, without fail, he would put them away and take up his brave face again, because he knew that what had passed was the past, and it was the future they needed to look to.

Even now, the memory of him at those times sent a pang through her. She'd locked it away, as she always had, but she'd never thought of telling him to stop it. She didn't fault him for that.

The very idea that someone else would incensed her, and she wouldn't let it go unanswered "-Naegi would never want to forget Maizono -or any of the others. Even if it hurt, he owed it to them to remember them! Why shouldn't we be sad when people pass, it's a sign of what they mean to us!"

"But people die out of grief," Ryouta tried, "they kill themselves! Or drag others into their sadness. They make a cycle of grief that never ends, and it all comes back to despair! It's not like despair is even crucial to happiness, so what's wrong with getting rid of it?"

His words filled Kyouko with a sense of relief, though there was sadness too. She was relieved, because she could see that Ryouta wasn't yet a true member of despair, just another victim who thought he was doing something right.

 _If only he hadn't gone so wrong._

"Kyouko," she heard Hagakure whisper from next to her, "I got a look at that timer from before! There are only ten minutes left."

 _Ten minutes… I can only hope that that's enough to make him give this up._

"So what exactly does that video do? Is it the same as the one that was used on the soldiers? The one that destroys their free will -their very claim to humanity?" Kyouko questioned sharply. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Togami sidling around to see if he could get a shot at the broadcast. Kyouko resisted the urge to watch. She trusted Togami to not make a mistake and shoot him without cause, and she couldn't draw attention when they were relying on his subtlety.

Unfortunately, Ryouta didn't make it easy for them. He noticed Togami's game and fell backwards, covering the table with his very body, "...It's a reverse engineered form of Enoshima's despair video." he said eventually, keeping a cold eye on Togami, as though daring him to shoot, "If I use it, it should annihilate all forms of despair. It's only a side effect that it makes them….impressionable."

Panic shot through Kyouko. Ryouta had made clear that he was set enough upon this that he was willing to sacrifice his life. It was an ideal he held so closely that making him give it up of his own accord seemed unlikely. Even so, she refused to give up. She still hoped that if she could just get his attention long enough, she might just be able to give Togami the chance he'd need.

Holding on to that hope, she pressed her attack "-a side effect or a central mechanic? After all, if you truly wished to destroy pain, destroying free will would be a necessity."

"I mean, if you take away their ability to feel bad, aren't you already kind of limiting their options?" Hagakure noted, scratching the back of his neck.

"Indeed," Kyouko nodded, sending another piercing stare Ryouta's way, "you'd violate their sovereignty as a human being by taking away their right to cry at an unjust situation. Even the feelings driving you on now are a result of pain, do you hate those?"

It was a weak argument, perhaps. No doubt Ryouta wouldn't be going this far if he didn't fear grief or guilt, but it worked nonetheless. The pain that held him right now was a symptom of injustice, and if he couldn't see the problem with stealing that away from all humanity -with taking away that essential lacking that drove them to action - then he was- no, she _had_ to make him understand that.

 _Only someone utterly trapped in denial wouldn't. If Ryouta is caught so deeply in such an illusion, I'll dispel it with all my energy._

Thankfully, their attack seemed to be working. Ryouta's next reply was shaky, he lacked the confidence to even look her in the eye, and his body had lost its former tension, "B-but even if there was injustice people would be happy. It's not unjust if there are no tear-"

"That's wrong! If a person dies unjustly, then it's still wrong! They should have had more time with their family! They deserve to be mourned, they deserve to spark change!"

To deny that fact would be to deny herself. As a detective, she had lived off of pain, grief and a desire for truth -maybe even justice. A victim's wish for truth, even if that truth would hurt, had been what always lead to them seeking her out- it was a sadness that meant something! Kyouko wouldn't let him turn his eyes away from that.

"But if they aren't sad than what's wrong with it? You're trying to take away the happiness of thousands-"

"By protecting their free will!"

"What's the point of free will when people only use it to destroy things!" Ryouta yelled, throwing his arms out, "If this had been done before, than Junko would never have won! She'd never have existed. The entire world would be whole!"

"That's not how things work," Munakata interrupted, quieting them both, "Even if you used that video, the world wouldn't change and people would still die pointlessly. Despair's attack had an effect on more than just sanity. Hunger, weather, despair, thirst, illness, all you would do in taking away sadness would mean making such deaths meaningless."

"But-"

"-and that's not even mentioning how the side effect of impressionability would require a central leader to direct the brainwashed. Do you intend it to be you? Even though you believe yourself weak?"

"I-"

"Furthermore, even if you broadcast worldwide, it will still miss people. What do you think will happen when half the world becomes brainwashed and the other half are left free? What will be your first order in the chaos? Will you do as you did with the soldiers here and start a war?"

Munakata's relentless attack had left Ryouta speechless and hesitating over what to say. But even when confronted, he refused to give in. Something wouldn't allow him to.

 _Anger, perhaps,_ Kyouko noted, watching his hands and jaw clench _, He seems to feel betrayed._

"You were the same weren't you…" he growled, glaring at Munakata, "why are you saying I'm wrong now! I'm just trying to protect the world the way you wanted the foundation to, since the very beginning!"

In spite of the guilt that crossed his features, Munakata didn't miss a second, "Because back then, I believed that I had to destroy despair utterly, even it meant destroying a hope I deemed weak." his hands tightened around his sword, the sword he'd tried to kill Naegi with "-but I would have been mistaken. If I had kept believing in that, I would have struck down my closest friends, robbed the world of the people it needed-" he fixed Ryouta with a hard stare, "Do you truly want to walk down that path as well, Mitarai Ryouta?"

 _I'd always wanted to bring hope to the world through my anime. But not like this. I'd been naive back then… no, maybe back then it was simply a different world._

He could still remember his feelings back in that fateful school year. He'd walked into that school, anxious but hopeful. He'd thought that this was his chance to make an _impact_ , even if it was a little lonely. And although he'd been scared, his heart had still been bursting with hope.

Ultimately, it wasn't even that scary. He'd had Mikan and the impostor with him, after all. They'd stood beside him and cared for him like real friends, up until Enoshima had come into his life and torn it apart.

Maybe he'd become too trusting over the course of that time. Blinded by his own inexperience and the kindness of his friends, he'd opened up to her immediately, unable to see all the clues to her true nature.

And the world had paid for it dearly, his dream turning into a nightmare that destroyed everything.

After that, it was never the same. He couldn't look at the state of the world -see the tears, the fire, the tragedy of it -and not feel himself tearing apart knowing that it was his fault.

All because he was weak, all because he was stupid, all because he was just a worthless animator who'd never bothered to learn the difference between a person like Enoshima and all the people who'd reached out to him back then.

How could he do nothing when he was at fault for its situation? As things were, he couldn't even atone! This nightmare was a black mark on his heart, he could never wipe it away no matter how hard he'd tried. Never, until he'd made that video...

"Do you truly want to walk down that path as well, Mitarai Ryouta?

The words struck deep. He just couldn't fathom it. What kind of answer was he expecting, saying that to him? What path did he even have left at this point? What could he possibly do that was worse than he'd already done?

His work had brought forth the ultimate tragedy, a disaster that could never be surpassed. No matter what evil he did, no matter how many taboos he broke or how many hesitancies he fought through, compared to leaving the world the way it was, there was only lesser evils.

He wouldn't let another tear fall while he lived. Not when the capability of doing something about it was right in his hands! So why were they treating him like a villain. Couldn't they see this was for everyone's sakes?!

 _If I were weaker, like before, I'd have destroyed these feelings ages ago, but I can't. I don't deserve to be happy, not until I've fixed everyone. I can't just run and save myself again!_

"So sealing away these feelings is saving people to you?"

Kyouko didn't know if Ryouta was aware that he'd spoken out loud. She suspected not, considering his reaction to her accusation was white faced shock.

"You shouldn't project your feelings upon the world, it's unethical."

"I'm not projecting them! It's true!"

"It's not. _I_ want to remember. That's already one disagreement among six, and yet you still intend to the entire world without even asking."

Hagakure stuck his hand up, "I for one, agree with whatever Kirigiri just said."

"As do I." Munakata added, "even if I were tempted, I'd at least want time to decide for myself. To find out what Chisa would have wanted."

Ryouta's face drained of color as he stared at them, his blushing ahe next time he looked at them all, his blushing anger had given way to denial, and when he looked at. Him, Kyouko got the distinct feeling that he was only seeing through them.

"That's not true..." he muttered, " you just- you just think it is! I'm sure that if you'd never fallen for those false hopes -never been exposed to those ideas- that you'd feel differently!"

"-These hopes have carried us for years, they seem truer to me than the despair of a couple of hours-"

"-How can you say that when the person who gave you that hope is dead!" Ryouta Interrupted, hysterical, "when so many people are die day after day! How can you call this the despair of a few hours when these years have been nothing but suffering!"

Hagakure's arm suddenly tightened around Kyouko's leg almost making her cursed inwardly at not having been able to keep Makoto's death from him, the last thing she needed was for either of her division members to worry, she prayed for it as she spoke.

"Even so, _we_ need to hold onto that hope." She said carefully, making sure to emphasize the 'we', "we want to hold onto it! Who are you to assume you know us better than we know ourselves?" Kyouko fired back, "can't you see that that's tyrannical."

"How is it tyrannical -Humans are designed to seek happiness and flee pain. If they weren't, then we wouldn't try so hard to hold on to the things we love!" he stuttered, "To the things that I- I stole!" his eyes grew desperate, "I need to give them _back-_

"You don't have to do anything." Munakata said suddenly, fists furling, "No one stole anything except Enoshima. Blaming yourself is just what she wants-"

"But she couldn't have done it without me! I created those techniques -even though I knew they were for brainwashing, I still wanted to use them, still wanted to study them-!" he burst into tears, no longer capable of holding back, "If I'd never done that she couldn't have forced everyone into despair -if I'd never existed-"

"So now you're blaming your very existence!? Can't you see that's insane!"

 _To blame your own existence...as the reason you have to do this? That's nothing more than dragging the whole world down with you into despair!_

"If you're so ashamed of using brainwashing why are you doing it all over again!" Hagakure yelled suddenly, surprisingly incensed, although he'd been out of the loop on the video, and even Naegi's death, even he could understand the foolishness of blaming one's own existence, "if you're sorry, fix it some other way!"

Kyouko was grateful for the effort. She was also glad for Hagakure's short nod, which told her that Togami was almost in position.

"I tried to help!" Ryouta cried, unable to see Togami through his tears, "I tried all these years, and in the end I failed. I couldn't stop despair, and I couldn't stop this killing game!"

"You can't expect instant solutions."

"I can't expect endless ones either, not when each second is another life!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her own seconds ticking down. Togami had rounded, a dark spot on her peripherals, and was fully hidden from Ryouta's sight by now. Kyouko didn't dare turn her eyes to look at him, for now she had her role to play, and that was to keep the man in front of her from realising that anything was up.

"There might have been other possibilities, ways to preserve the future without destroying what makes us human" _though it will be impossible to convince you of that in so little time._

Perhaps it would always be impossible. Perhaps on some level, he was right - but she couldn't accept that any more than Ryouta could abandon it. She had to protect the future of the world, even if it means deceiving her... friend.

 _I'm going to believe in Makoto, I'm going to believe that things can change, and be safe!_

"And if you cannot open your eyes to such a possibility-"

Togami came back into view, his weapon pointed towards at the broadcasting machine. It was aimed with precision at the exposed machinery, safe and far from Ryouta.

"-then you should at least open your ears to your friends."

The gunshot rang out before Ryouta even knew what was happening.

* * *

aaaaaaand here it is! and probably disappointing too! I swear I didn't mean to go on a hiatus! It's just that the chapter ended up being waaay longer than expected and Nanowrimo hit me in the face as soon as I hit the 3000 mark and I focused on my original work for a month, resulting in this getting completely left by the wayside until december, upon which there were finals and a sudden bout of (hopefully temporary) tinnitus and two secret santas and I haven't watched or read on Danganronpa 1,2 or 3 (the anime) for like, a year and a half so the characterisation is probably wrong and I only proofread once cause 3000 words oh god.

What I'm trying to say is that this is probably not good. I wish there was an unfavourite button. I am sincerely sorry.

Bear in mind that these excuses are not pleas for mercy. Rip it apart if you want, I don't mind, I want to improve, since one day I wanna get better! So yeah, if thats cathartic, go for it.


	21. Restore

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

A voice rang out for the umpteenth time this morning, incessantly, it said "ms Kirigiri, I don't think this is wise."

As usual, Kyouko ignored the doctor, continuing to step down the hallways with a steady speed. Quite unexpectedly, the reinforcements that followed Togami had come within the day -a very fortunate thing for Sakakura, who probably wouldn't have made it otherwise, which probably made it fortunate for Munakata as well.

The reinforcements had tidied up well afterwards, breaking all the monitors and restoring the soldiers to sanity. The building had been less of a concern, but Kyouko was still glad to see it had been put back in order. All the rubble had been cleared and placed outside, and the electricity was up and running again. Like this, lit and sparkling like the authentic base above them had been, Kyouko could barely believe that it had been the setting of a killing game. Only a few telltale signs -a smashed mirror, a cracked window, a leak from outside, were any indicators.

It put her at ease -almost. Unfortunately, the killing game had left more scars than the ones on the building, and more problems too. So many problems, in fact, that she had an entire list -one that would be soon be topped by the dismissal of this doctor if he continued pestering her while she was injured.

"Even though you have crutches right now, you're leg is still wounded. You shouldn't be doing any stressful activity so soon afterwards-"

An unusual flare of anger rose up, probably from blood loss, and she was about to put all courtesy aside when a door opened, familiar footsteps drawing her attention away and saving the doctor some discomfort.

"Munakata," she said, looking him over, "I didn't expect to see you away from Sakakura."

He was quick to explain, "the Foundation needed a leader, if only for now, and since you weren't available…" he grew quiet, before waving the doctor and soldiers away.

Kyouko watched them leave, it seemed certain things weren't meant for their ears, "so you decided to lead the foundation in the end, did you. Well things fall where they fall."

 _It wasn't like I was particularly against it, anyway,_ Not like he had been. Apparently, even after everything else had been said, he still had needed one more discussion before he'd willingly take the mantle again, and even then…

"How can I be trusted again after this?" he'd said, staring over the sea with a lost look, "I couldn't stop any of this-" he'd looked at her, "I've said it before and I'll say it again, it should be you."

Togami had scoffed in response. Kyouko would have wondered at his sensitivity, but she was starting to tire of the back and forth herself.

"Do you really think that the world is going to recover so easily if both the future foundations leaders vanish?" he said, "what we need right now is a semblance of reason, if nothing else, and you're the only one that can provide that."

"How can anyone trust me when I let the foundation fall-"

"Firstly, _you_ didn't let it fall. Secondly, _no one else knows about the mistakes you made_ ," Kyouko stressed, "besides, even if you don't trust yourself, others do, that's what counts. No one will doubt or second guess you in a time of crisis-"

 _Whereas if I take over after a time like this, I'll be viewed as an opportunist at worst. I won't be able to guide anything-_

"You guided the foundation this far," she finished, "that's why other people will accept you, and it's why _I_ know that you can guide it right again."

"Even after I hurt you?" he questioned, "even if I used this who forsaken game as an excuse to try and kill your friend?"

"Even after all that."

"Even after what you said, I still hadn't wanted it, but Sakakura, he said he wouldn't follow anyone but me. Everything else just...followed from that."

His hands clenched, Kyouko almost smirked.

"If you're really that worried, then just ask next time before you go on the warpath."

Silence hung in the air, now tense with apology, then. Kyouko was too tired to curse herself for having dredged up such things, even though a part of her was beginning to suspect that she'd driven the conversation to a close.

But then it broke, and Munakata merely sighed, before asking, "in that case, I have need of some advice right now."

"What is it."

"The despair and hope videos, I need to destroy or contain them as soon as possible. Tengans Despair video has already been dealt with, but the hope video-"

"Any information regarding it will be with Ryouta," Kyouko confirmed it before he finished, before pointing down the hall, "that's why I was heading to the holding cells."

"So you'd already begun to work again," he said, the slightest amount of softness in his tone, "I suppose you'll be reliable enough after all."

Kyouko nodded, then she kept walking.

There were no cells in the new headquarters. It had had had no need for them. After all, who would have expected something like a killing game to happen? It was simply that current circumstances made the lacking glaring. However, even with such circumstantial reasons, there were still rumours that the recent disaster in containing all those brainwashed soldiers would finally sway Munakata enough that Sasakura would get his wish of cells and interrogation rooms in every facility.

That would come in future, however. For now, the prisoners, or rather prisoner, would have to make do with the grimy, dust caked storage room that had been clumsily emptied for them.

Said prisoner was doing about as well as she expected. Bruised and broken, he was curled into a ball and dead to the world. A part of her felt regret for having left him like this. If she'd been more convincing, or stronger, than he wouldn't have to have been incarcerated like this. Unfortunately, after seeing his plans unravelled entirely against his will, Ryouta had been unmanageable, and it had taken physical violence to control him.

The memories of his unreasonable hostility had stuck with her since. Selfish as it was, she didn't want this to be the state of affairs for him from now on, and she had spent the entire night of recovery she had examining how she could convince him reconsider. Now, she could finally put her plan into action, and perhaps put one problem behind her.

Ever so slightly hopeful, she called out to him, "Ryouta."

The boy looked up at her with eyes red from crying, "Kyouko…"

He said it tonelessly, but his eyes betrayed his anger.

She ignored it, there were more pressing matters. "Are you okay?" she asked, "have they given you your rights?"

"No one cares about something like rights here," he said tiredly, "the world has grown too cruel for that."

Her heart skipped a beat, "have they tortured you," she demanded, "or beaten or drugged you."

He rolled to his side miserably,"they took my _phone_ away."

A second passed in silence, dropping away into the wind never to be seen again. Kyouko just didn't know how she was supposed to respond to the sight of Ryouta rolled over like a sulky teenager on the floor.

"You used that phone to brainwash people," she said bluntly, "as such, they confiscated it as they would a weapon. You cannot complain about a measure that's only reasonable-"

"What exactly is reasonable about it," he hissed, shooting up and glaring at her "if I just had that, they wouldn't even need to hold me here -I'd watch it myself-" his strength failed him and he fell again, slamming into the ground with a thump.

"That's probably another reason why they took it away. I had them put you on suicide watch."

He snorted, "so they won't even use it on an irredeemable criminal like me, huh, what a waste."

"Just because you're a criminal doesn't make destroying your free will any more appropriate."

His eyes flashed with bitterness as he rolled to look at her, "not even if I want it?"

Kyouko was unfazed, "why do you want it?" she responded, "I thought you wanted to make up for what you'd done."

"I already did! I made that video didn't I!? But you refuse to let me use it even on myself!"

"You're video won't save you or anyone else. Using it is the same as running away."

"What wrong with running away from a despair that can't be beaten?"

"Because an unbeatable despair doesn't exist," she said it with conviction, "it's the lie that despair uses to crush you so you'll give up." she crouched down to look at him, "Didn't you have dreams, Ryouta? Didn't you want to bring hope to the world? You can't animate if you run away."

"I don't care about animating anymore! All it's ever brought to the world is suffering anyway-"

There was a soft clack as she placed her phone on the round in front of him, silencing him. He stared at it with narrowed eyes, giving her a confused look as she backed away from it.

"On that phone is a record of all the fanmail you have ever received for your works, separated by video and following a short blurb about the wide reaching changes." she explained, "Munakata was kind enough to allow me to access the files last night. As well as telling me how you never once looked over it yourself."

He shook his head, "what's the point...they'd all hate me if they knew what I did -I don't deserve to read it-"

"I suggest you do so now," she said, turning away, "If you read it, you might dispel this delusion you have of an unbeatable despair -for the world or for you-" she walked to the door, but stopped to say one last thing, "if you do become reasonable, then call me down here again. I need to destroy that video, and I'll need your help to do it."

With that, she left. As the door slid closed with a whine she gestured to the guard beside her.

"I locked off the connections and changed all the passwords so that he could only access the safe videos. Ryouta is the ultimate animator, not the ultimate hacker, but I want you to keep an eye on him regardless. He's a valuable member of our foundation even now, and he would be sorely missed."

She said it twice, just to make sure he hadn't misunderstood or had any illusions of letting it happen out of fear or spite, then she made her way to the morgue.

There were still more problems yet.

* * *

Here's chapter 21. I can feel the ending creeping closer, but it dawns on me that there's like 3 dangling threads (including ANOTHEr scene with Ryouta) and a bonus 'another side another story chapter' and I feel like it's very far off all of a sudden. Either way! Thank you to everyone who has read this and is still here!

In other news, operation grab my productivity by the ponytails is a go! Now I just need to keep it up through RE hell.


	22. Confess

Disclaimer: I do not own danganronpa.

* * *

Kyouko had not expected this. Everything she knew about medicine, the human body, reason, all of it had told her that such a situation should be utterly impossible, and yet it had happened.

Sakakura -one armed stabbed in the chest and on at least one sedative Sakakura -was at the morgue -and he was standing over Naegi's corpse.

Now, putting aside the insanity of that -because reality had never been kind enough to return to what was sane- her having not expected it was quite a problem, as it meant she had no method to defuse the disaster that would follow.

It didn't take her talent to realise that a situation like this was bound to go badly in any circumstance. Even in the best case scenario with just her here, it would still have gone badly. She had yet to have forgiven him for everything he'd done, so to find him here, standing above the person he'd wanted to kill -in the same room as the person he really HAD killed -if she had been alone, she already would have made him regret it.

But she wasn't even alone. It was worse than that, instead she was with Togami and Hagakure. Who she'd already briefed on everything, including who threw that fatal punch.

Her mind drilled through the possibilities, staring with concern over the scene about to unfold. Togami was controlled, but there was a dark look behind his glasses, and while Hagakure was literally shaking in his boots, he wasn't even trying to hide his distaste.

Naegi would've been touched to see it, but he'd probably also be worried. She certainly was, after all, even wounded, Sakakura was still the ultimate boxer. The fact that he was standing here was most likely a testament to the skill that title implied.

She didn't think that either or her friends were liable to get into an altercation with him, but just in case the slightest thought crossed were to cross their mind-

She stepped in front of them,"what are you doing here?"

"...Huh?" Kyouko blinked at the reply at the same time as his body shot into posture. Thanks to the painkillers, it appeared he hadn't even realised she was there. As soon as he did, however, he paled considerably, "Oh- I- I just wanted…" he trailed off, going slightly paler as her took note of both Togami and Hagakure as well, "to see...him…"

"And why is that?" she said, "I thought you despised him."

"...Well as we can tell with -uh -Munakata, b-bad blood doesn't seem to... last…. very... long….. I -I thought I'd come try to set it to rest myself-" he stuttered, curling in on himself in a way she'd never expected to see. It was a complete and utter display of shame, so deep that she couldn;t even derive satisfaction from it.

Hagakure did not feel the same, "So what?!" he jumped in, bristling but standing firmly behind both her and an irritated Togami, "you think you can make it all better like that after you tried to kill him? You think you can settle things with -with a?"

"I know that you can't make up with the dead," Sakakura interrupted tiredly, "I'm just -I'm here for her."

Kyouko's heart stopped a split second as he pointed straight at her. It then started up again as soon as he took another lumbering step, telling her a thousand times to step back.

She ignored it. After all, while there were mysteries about him and his motivations even now, she knew for sure that he respected Munakata. He wouldn't jeopardize that now.

Even so, when he reached out his hand, balled up into a fist an inch away from her, she couldn't help but flinch.

He sighed when he saw it, then his hand opened, and she could see a small, crumpled note nestled within.

"You never read it did you? It was still in his hand when I first found him," his head tilted, "I didn't read it back then, but you should now. A man's last wishes shouldn't go unheard."

Then he dropped the letter and left, leaving her behind and utterly frozen.

The paper felt listlessly to the floor.

Togami and Hagakure had left her after all that, though Togami had to force Hagakure to give her some privacy to deal with the letter herself. A part of her wondered if she shouldn't stay near Naegi to read his final thoughts, but another part of her recoiled at the thought of reading something so private under the prying eyes of the doctors.

Unable to stand it, she walked briskly to the most private place she knew -the bathroom -though after Munakata had placed guards outside the doors to make sure no new corpses sprang up, it wasn't really such a bastion anymore.

 _It would do for now, those men only check every hour or so_.

Contented enough, she pressed her back against the wall of the cubicle kicked the door and held the folded letter in front of her.

It wasn't a surprise to see it. She'd already done so before, curled up in Naegi's hand after he'd...passed. She probably should have read it then, but she'd ignored it. She had thought she knew what was in it -or maybe she was simply angry, angry that he'd gone before her when the world had needed him.

Now, as Sakakura's words echoed in her head, she was wondering if she'd really been right in that. Even if they were words she could predict, they came from his heart, and they were his last. He had a right to be heard.

She wouldn't leave it off any longer. Breath hitching in her chest, she gritted her teeth and pulled the corners apart.

 _Sincerely._

 _I feel like now would be a bad time to mention the seasons, though I hope by the time you read this you can finally smile beautifully the spring in good heart like you wanted to._

 _You know, I always found it spectacular the way we still have something like flower viewing in these times -that the spring is still so beautiful even after the tragedy -that it still persists after everything..._

 _That spring...watching it every year with you was one of the finest parts of my time. Even if the skies were still red, and the cities were still broken, you made it seem whole._

 _You never seemed to see it as whole though, probably because you couldn't accept it, couldn't accept that the world was still a broken place. I always felt sad to see that -maybe that was one of the reasons I tried so hard to fix it._

 _I'm a little sad that I'll never get to see that -that I'll never get to see those flowers with you in their full glory -but you still don't need to worry about it! I'm not too torn up, really, because the thought of that smile on your face when everything is done is enough to make me happy even now._

 _And even if I can't be with you then, or now, I know that you'll see it one day._

 _Even so… I hope that you don't wait too long. I hope that you don't concern yourself so much with the unchangeable that you can't see the hope that you make. Things pass and come again, that's just the way of the world, of the future, and even after everything that's happened, I still want the changing future to mean hope to you._

 _Maybe that's too much to ask. Maybe you're reading this too soon and everything seems to be gone. But believe me when I say that I mean it, that the world you'll get to see will be brilliant._

 _And believe me again when I say that I don't want you to look away out of shame, or out of some feeling that you didn't do enough. That's a lie, something so definitely wrong that I could say it a thousand times._

 _You'll try your best, I know it -and sometimes your best won't seem to be enough, but that's just part of life, and you can't change it. You have to focus on the future. On living, smiling and if you must, making up, but_ never _put making up above smiling._

 _I mean it. Please don't carry what I did on your shoulders. It was my decision, and I made it knowing the consequences just like you would have so you don't have to regret this._

 _I don't regret it. Not at all, and I'll go out smiling just to prove that._

 _That smile -this happiness I can feel -in a lot of ways that's because of you -because you've been such a dependable person since the day that I met you, a friend since the day I first heard you laugh, my love ever since that say where you saved me from that garbage chute, and my hope every day where I've looked at the world and wondered if I did the right thing. You are the only reason why I can say I have no regrets or worries, and I hope that this -that the time we spent together -can be the same to you._

 _You are my hope. And you can be the world's hope. All of you. I have faith even now._

 _Sincerely._

 _Naegi._

 _What a hopelessly earnest letter._

Earnest, but not quite expected. It had only been half that. After all, it hadn't been a suitable time for a confession, though she supposed she was hypocritical in that, considering what she'd said to him beforehand.

The hope, she'd expected, it was Naegi after all. The love, well it wasn't a surprise, he'd made it quite obvious really, but to have expressed it...it seemed people really were bravest at the end.

She had been in considerations so long that she hadn't even noticed she'd stained the paper in tears by the time she'd taken it back.

But even despite the tears, she was smiling.

It was not the last smile she would make that day, nor was it the last fortunate message that would arrive upon her.

* * *

And there goes another plot point! Only a few left! I decided to work on this consecutively for a little bit because it's so close to finishing an three projects is just too much so yeah. Here's 22. And a bad romance letter because I have no idea how to be touching and not cheesy :I.

Thanks for reading this far if you have. See you next time!


	23. Dreamer

Disclaimer: i do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

"Kyouko, the note-"

"Can come later. We have something more important to deal with right now."

She said it briskly, but it wasn't because she was cold -quite the opposite -her heart was burning so brightly that she suspected it was showing on her face.

Hope. Not the usual emotion one felt in a morgue, but she couldn't hold it back after she'd counted the bodies and investigated the area. Her questions, discoveries and effort had led her to only one conclusion.

 _Asahina could still be alive._

But to confirm that she would need to find her, there were still too many variables and mysteries for her to assume all was well, and to find any sort of comfort Kyouko would have to see the body for herself and make a judgement. That was why she had to find out which room she was in -even if she had to ask every doctor in the building.

"Togami you ask everyone on the east wing, Hagakure, the north. We're finding our colleague."

Thus the investigation began. Thankfully, it was an easy one, as while the doctors were just slightly too secretive for Kyouko's liking, ultimately they were still foundation doctors with no serious desire to hide things and jeopardize their own positions. All of them reached an answer before long and found themselves each greeting each other in front of the same hospital room.

The greetings died out as Kyouko reached out and knocked on the door -leaving the air so quiet and tense it was hard to breathe. A part of her worried at what she would see inside. Would this all have been meaningless, with Asahina dead despite it all? Would she have wasted so much time and emotional energy on a false dream?

In a dry sort of way it was terrifying. She supposed this was what Naegi had to feel so much back then, accepting such a thing as hope.

But he never regretted it. Neither would she.

The door opened, flooding the corridor with light, from inside, she could see a doctor who looked like she'd never hated anything more in her life.

"Welcome, director." she said, voice concealing a slight edge of a groan, "might I ask why you're here?"

"I've heard that one of my subordinates is under your care."

"yes well, you heard right. Is that all?" she said, trying to finish the conversation before it set off.

Hagakure wouldn't let her, "is she okay?" he burst out, "can we see her?!"

"She's in a delicate state," she replied, looking back inside the room "I'd rather not have disruptions when I might need to work at any moment."

His brow furrowed, "why? What happened?"

"There were... some complications," her eyes shifted towards the floor, "she's not in the best state right now."

"I feel like there's something you're not telling us," Kyouko said sharply, _it would take a fool not to realise._

The doctor held her silence.

"You are aware-" Kyouko coaxed, "-that unless these 'complications' are of a criminally negligent variety there will be no repercussions. There is really no reason for you to hide anything."

But even then, the doctor refused to answer. When faced with such anxiety, Kyouko was almost driven to leave, despite how suspicious she found it all. When it came down to it, she trusted the doctors, and if they told her it was too soon to see Asahina, she'd believe them.

So after a few more moments of useless back and forth, she turned away and began to crutch her way back without complaint, taking her subordinates with her despite their hesitance.

She'd almost made it to the corner when the unexpected happened. The doctor called out, voice tinged with the high tone of an apology.

"No don't- don't go. You can come in…just be quiet and...you can see her and I'll explain."

* * *

Kyouko's heart skipped a beat at the sight of her, asleep in the cot in a new hospital gown. Aside from the cut hair, cleaned skin and properly coloured body, she looked exactly the same as she had when she'd fallen. She looked so similar, in fact, that for a moment Kyouko was drawn back to when she'd cried helplessly into what she'd thought was her friend's corpse. The memory made her want to retch, and she felt a horrible urge to collapse onto her own weak and useless legs again at it.

"As you can see, she's still asleep, but because she drank that antidote her vitals are fairly stable-"

"So she'll be awake soon!?' Hagakure asked, "if her vitals are fine then it's just a matter of waiting-"

"Well not quite," the doctor, identified by her name tag as Ii Shime, cut him off nervously, earning a sharp look from Kyouko.

"Does that have to do with the 'complications'?" she asked, "is there something wrong with her beyond the vitals? Is the poison damaging-"

"Well of course the poison was damaging. It wouldn't be a very good poison otherwise, but it's not the problem. The antidote dealt with that to the point that even her colour is recovering, rather…" Ii hesitated for a moment, "well... she asphyxiated slightly."

Silence erupted then, stealing away everyone's breath. It had been caught up in the cold anxiety just like the rest of them as they considered the doctors words.

Well, two of them at least- "but she's breathing now isn't she-"

"Asphyxiation can have serious impacts if left unchecked. Even a short period of induced unconsciousness can result in brain damage, a coma or death," Kyouko explained bluntly, ignoring the way Hagakure paled with every word, _the only hope is that the doctors got to her quickly enough-_

But one of those same doctors cut her thoughts off before they could finish. "It wasn't our fault," she scowled, crossing her arms defensively as she kept a close eye on the monitor.

There was a pause, "no one said it was."

"-But the fact that you said that makes me feel like you had something to do with it," Togami continued where she had left off, picking at his nails in a display of ambivalence that only barely concealed how his eyes were locked on her like a hawk "A confession is in order."

The performance wasn't fooling anyone, not even Ii. She shifted for a moment, unsure of whether to answer, but after a moment of being drilled into from all sides, she seemed to realise that there was no way she was getting out of the corner she'd found herself in.

"We thought she was dead," she explained, panicked, "we couldn't feel any pulse, she wasn't visibly breathing, she failed to respond and she was covered in blood. Knowing what we did about that poison, it seemed rational to put her in a body bag until she needed to be cleaned for her rites!"

"We aren't ultimate nurses or doctors, you know," she sighed, sounding utterly tired, "we did the best we could."

"Was it good enough?"

She flinched, "what?"

"Was your best good enough?" Hagakure asked, his voice was devoid of anger, "she'll wake up, right?"-he ran up to her, almost shaking her gaze from the monitor and taking her by the hands "-You can tell that, right?!"

"W-well actually," Ii stuttered, shocked by the contact, "I-if it makes things any easier, Doctor Saga thinks that since her breathing was slowed down by her near-death state, she might have had more oxygen than we thought."

The "I don't know or even think so," went unsaid, and it brought a cold feeling to Kyouko's chest. Even so, she couldn't bring herself to be angry at the doctor. It wasn't like Kyouko or even Togami wouldn't have made the same mistake and besides...

 _She didn't look away from the monitor even once._

In the end, it had just been another unavoidable tragedy to pile on all the others. A sad consequence of the way things were, but that didn't mean things were hopeless. Just like Saga said, the future was still unsaid, and even if it hurt, she wanted to keep her hopes up until she saw it, for good or ill. If they tried, then surely it would have meaning.

 _This doctor will try. If she truly cares, then I'll believe in her, and I'll believe in Asahina too._

With that, she felt something strange flutter in her heart, like a lock turning, she supposed it was closure.

"May I visit again."

"If you want, but be quieter next time."

* * *

And here we tie a plot thread. Unfortunately this is the closure that's happening on Asahina's situation, which may come as a disappointment, but it's simply the result of me not wanting to ruin the sdr2 casts lives for ethically questionable arguments and thus no Mikan. (Them taking on a punishment they just frankly didn't deserve is one of the reasons I wrote this. Just...let me have this.)

For what it's worth, she totally wakes up of screen. I have a weakness to happy endings.


	24. Extra

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

For a long time, she couldn't do anything. She couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't feel -she could only exist, barely alert, stuck staring at a darkness so heavy that it crushed all thought.

She was sure she must be dying. That whatever that antidote had been, it was too little, and she hadn't been able to pull through. That punch had been fatal for her, and it had taken her sight, her smell and her movements, with only her thoughts left as it all shut down one by one...

 _Or maybe…_ , she wondered bleakly, _maybe I'm already dead_ , _and that's all this darkness is_ , she recoiled mentally as soon as she thought it, desperately hoping that she'd thought wrong. The possibility of going through an eternity of this alone was just too unbearable, so much so that it reduced all the thoughts she'd stolen to broken messes.

 _I can't even tell if I managed to save Kyouko, can't even tell if it's worth it._

The darkness weighed down even harder at the thought, but this time it filled her with panic. Terrified, she tried all she could to move even one finger in the emptiness, but she couldn't even feel her body.

The futility of it all made her want to give up, but giving up would be even scarier than trying and hoping for a change, so she didn't. She just struggled and struggled for an eternity until she suddenly came upon a glorious moment, where everything went like and, just a little, the darkness lifted. Not completely -not even enough to breathe -but just enough to hope.

Burning with it, she kept at it, pushing harder until suddenly she felt the sensation of eyes opening and light streamed into her view.

She blinked, shocked, for a moment, before she realized that all the darkness from before had simply been her closed eyes. She'd been so tired and weak she hadn't even been able to open them properly.

 _Either that…or this is heaven._

Was she alive or dead? She wouldn't know until she checked, so with all her effort, she decided to try, lurching up to take a look for herself-

-The needles that had been connecting her to the ivs pulled out a few millimetres, nearly causing her to throw up from the sudden pinpricks of pain.

 _Ah, so reality then._

* * *

The first few minutes after that disaster were tense for more reasons than one. While getting all the tubes and needles pulled out of her was uncomfortable enough on its own, it didn't help that she had no idea where Kyouko was -or if she was even still alive! and with that feeding tube, she couldn't even ask!

The wait was killing her, making her heart beat slightly faster in anticipation each time one was removed, to the point that the doctor even threatened to sedate her for it.

But ultimately, once every last one was gone, she managed to put together the few words she needed and asked about everything -about Kyouko, the game, the president, the traitor.

At the same time as she asked, the door slid open, the doctor cursed just once before the whole room was filled with familiar faces and voices. There was Saga, from her division, Yukina, from her own squad, Hagakure, Togami -with a tagalong Fukawa of course- Haruki, one of her superiors aides, and there, at the back.

Kyouko.

She wanted to cry.

 _You're safe._

* * *

They hadn't gotten a chance to talk at first everything had been too loud and wild. But even after that they _still_ couldn't talk because Haruki had had things to discuss -including hammering down the number of days she'd get to recover from her stay in the hospital.

Asahina was eager to get it over with. "Just a week is fine,"

Haruki's eyes widened just slightly.

"That's ...only the minimum we offer though, two is recommended-"

"There are still problems right," she replied, "still people who need to be fed, and who need help."

She didn't get a response immediately, Haruki only stood still for a moment, then she nodded, and that made Asahina's decision for her. There were still people out there who needed her help, and she couldn't use something so small to get out of it.

After all, she'd seen so many people who'd been hurt over the years -even Kyouko seemed to have been injured and was using crutches -but they were still trying, compared to that, Asahina had just taken a big nap!

Well...that probably wasn't how comas worked, but her point still stood.

Kyouko watched wordlessly from the back, she couldn't tell if the look in her eyes was disapproval or gratitude. It might have been both.

* * *

"I'm glad that you're finally awake," Kyouko said, once everyone else had already left.

"Sorry I took so long."

"You couldn't help it-" she said lightly, before her voice grew sharp," -though I wouldn't be against you getting just a little more rest. You just woke up, and you've been asleep for three months, so your muscles would have started to atrophy."

"I'm the ultimate swimmer Kyouko, even if they did lose mass I could still move laps around you."

"Well, since it is your area of expertise I suppose I'll just _have to_ trust you on it. Are you ready, then?"

Asahina felt her heart speed up just a little with impending embarrassment, "for what."

"To lap me around the courtyard."

She laughed nervously, "maybe not for a little while... If I get up now I'll probably trip," she admitted.

Kyouko's eyes softened, "Really? Well, I suppose that's acceptable, we still have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Too many people hadn't made it out, that had been the answer to her questions about the killing game, and as for the ones who did...well it might have been cruel of her to say it, but she didn't know if she liked that they'd made it.

A part of her was still afraid, it had been those people who had put her and Kyouko in such danger, who had led Naegi to give up his life. They'd done so many terrible things, and yet their positions hadn't suffered for it at all. Munakata was still president, and Sakakura was still head of the security force, and no matter how Kyouko tried to justify it for her, a part of her couldn't accept it.

The thought made her both angry and betrayed, but another part of her was less sure.

After all, it hadn't been them who started it all, it had been the chairman, so when it came down to it, they had been prisoners themselves, and all of their crimes had taken place within the cage of that killing game.

She couldn't blame people for the things they did during killing games. They brought out the worst in people, and to blame Munakata and Sakakura for that would mean that she had to blame her dearly departed friends as well.

She couldn't do that...she supposed she'd just have to try to forgive.

* * *

"You don't have to forgive me."

The words shocked her as soon as she heard them, but not so much as Sakakura himself bowing his head to her.

It had been a week since her waking, and she'd been dreading this conversation that whole time. When it had finally happened, and he'd walked into the airport without so much as a warning, she'd nearly jumped out of her skin.

She'd thought that a fight would definitely break out, but it hadn't, instead, he'd...apologised.

"Punching you was wrong," he continued, still looking at the ground, "a lot of what we did was inexcusable, so I won't ask you to excuse me, but I will ask you to take this as my proper apology."

He pressed something into her hands while she was still too dazed to do anything. She was still so stunned that she didn't even notice what he'd given her, instead she zeroed in on his arm, or rather, the lack of one in spite Kyouko telling her about the new prosthetic technologies that people had given her for her leg.

He must have noticed where she was looking, "I don't know if I deserve it. I've decided I'll keep this until all the loose ends are tied."

* * *

"It's a flower viewing ticket," Hagakure said, leaning over the chair, perplexed, as they flew back on the plane, "but the flower viewing isn't for another few months, right? Strange for him to give it to you now."

"There are only a few cherry trees left," Asahina explained, feeling an odd warm feeling in her chest that only grew cold and confused when she remembered where the gift had come from, "and it's all reserved for the security and army. For normal people, getting tickets is the hardest thing in the world."

 _I've tried every year to see Sakura's namesake, but I never managed to._

Now she'd finally done it, and she'd gotten six no less -enough for all of them -but the fact that he'd given her six only made her heart fall even as it rose. While there were plenty of people who she could consider giving the sixth to, sitting here, beside all her friends from the school, she could only think of Naegi.

 _It would've been like a reunion...why did he of all people decide to give me a reminder like this?_

It was an action she couldn't fathom. After all, the fact that he'd given these to her at all was proof that, no matter what he said, he wanted her to forgive him, but giving her the sixth only made that harder. Naegi was gone, and this only twisted the knife that had been left in her gut all that time ago when she'd failed to keep him from running further.

Her hands shook, just a little, Kyouko looked at her with concern.

Suddenly Fukawa spoke up from the back seat,"there's six right? Then let's invite Dekomaru!"

The entire cabin went silent, then. In the cold dead air, Asahina could hear the distinct sound of Togami sighing.

"Yes, let's bring along the living reminder of Naegi's death and put the person he died for and the person who escaped his fate under the same cherry trees together, surely no sparks will fly." He didn't say it out loud, he was too tactful for that, but Asahina could feel it in the air. Even so…

She couldn't exactly say she agreed with him. True, there was a chance things would go wrong, but she'd met Komaru, if just briefly, and she'd seemed like a perfectly sweet person who wouldn't hold it against her. Rather, the only emotion Asahina was worried about her feeling was loneliness.

With Fukawa far away and Naegi gone she'd be left on her own -no, Asahina wouldn't let that happen. She'd felt that heartbreak of grief -that crushing weight that pushed down and took all your happy memories of the people important to you and tore them apart with the fact that you'd never ever see them again -too much to let it happen to someone else, especially the sister of such a dear friend.

Protecting his sister from such a thing was the least they could do for Naegi, after everything he'd done for them.

 _It's decided, I'll invite Komaru_.

* * *

"Thank you, Asahina."

The voice rang out in the dead of night, shocking Asahina awake with a jolt.

"Ah, sorry if I woke you," Kyouko said quickly, "you had that movie playing, so I assumed you were awake."

"It's fine," Asahina sighed, though she felt that Kyouko must have known she was awake, "and you're welcome, though I don't really know what you're thanking me for."

 _Anyone would have protected you back then,_ she thought, _it was only decent_.

But it turned out that wasn't what Kyouko had had in mind.

"For the flower viewing, the truth was that I truly wanted to go."

"Really?" Asahina said, _Well I guess that deals with my fears about having dropped it on you so suddenly_ , "Well I'm glad you'll love it, but you still don't need to thank me. We are friends after all."

"I suppose that is true. In that case, may I also thank you for being such a good friend?"

* * *

Komaru was as bright as Asahina had expected, though there was a small heartbreak that played on her eyes. Thankfully, she managed to fight it off, especially when Fukawa arrived and gave her a megaton hug.

Asahina had to admit that the blossoms probably had to do with it as well, though. They were spectacular, so lovely that she could almost forget that there was only a lonely ten trees all piled up into a lonely greenhouse.

It was an indoor storm of pink and white, falling like feathery snow onto everything -their bags, their clothes, their faces, and even into the orange juice they were allowed to take in because they still weren't allowed to drink, and when she looked it, the entire world and all it's troubles seemed to fade away.

"It really is beautiful," Kyouko mused from beside her, "I didn't get a good enough look last time."

"You didn't?" _it doesn't seem like you to miss a detail_.

She shook her head, "no, I was too anxious even at my appointment celebration," her voice held traces of regret, almost threatening to reduce her wonder, before another wind picked up and yet more petals were thrown into a spiral. She pulled her hands close to her chest as she watched them, and Asahina saw that she was holding a note, "but I'm glad I got to see them again."

"Same," Asahina replied, and she meant it. The flowers put everything to shame, even the hanami from before the disaster, for some reason, seeing the petals fly like sparks of warmth in the artificially fanned air beat any blossoms she'd seen before.

 _Maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder,_ she thought wistfully _. Or maybe-_

She stole a glance about and saw them all. Hagakure trying to preserve the memory inside his crystal ball for eternity so that he could show it to his mother, Fukawa trying to staple both Togami and Komaru together so that she could be close to both of them at once, the two running away…

And Kyouko, with a smile that lit up the whole world.

- _it's that_.

* * *

So I wasn't going to do this originally, but then I got a very good comment that made me reconsider and try to write it up. I don't know if it's as good, because many of the mini-scenes are extra short, but I wanted to have the feeling of something quick and sweet. Also, um, sorry if this is rude but also I hope you feel better soon!


	25. Failsafes

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

When Kyouko woke up the next day, she wasn't expecting anything to have changed. It was simply a normal day, where the sun rose in the east and every minute was to be consumed with work. To hope for anything more seemed unreasonable -like banking on a clock being out of time -and yet, when Munakata came to her side shortly after she'd woken up with news, the only thing she could think was that time had moved too fast.

"Mitarai is ready to speak to you again."

Though it was at least fast in a pleasant way.

"Already?"

"Already," he confirmed, "I wouldn't be surprised though. Mitarai has proven himself to be rather impressionable."

His voice was carefully empty, but she could feel a dreg of distaste within it that gave her the urge to frown.

"Perhaps, but that has suited us well today, hasn't it?"

"I suppose, but if we want to trust him, I'd rather he have a semblance of critical thinking skills," he shook his head, "but I suppose I'll be leaving that in your hands, if you're willing."

"I'd have done it even without you asking."

* * *

She'd left soon after that, but his words had stuck with her. The truth was that she was indeed a little worried about Ryouta's actions. To turn over so easily… while there was always the chance that he'd finally realised the errors of his ways and he'd decided to admit that...it seemed too fortunate.

It was just as likely that something had been lost in translation -that he had concerns, still -or that he was being manipulated yet again by someone else. If so, how? Had he been hurt, had he grown listless? The worries branched out further and further, rooting themselves carefully in every part of her so she was left breathless when she finally reached him.

Thankfully, that breathlessness was relief, not hurt, because Ryouta looked just fine. Although the cell itself was strewn with torn paper and crumbled seals, not one letter itself had been destroyed. Similarly, Ryouta also looked poor, but not as though he'd been hurt. There wasn't a scratch on him that could be suspected as being inflicted by another, and his eyes seemed to contain a real determination despite his surroundings.

 _It's good that he read them_ , she thought, "you wanted me."

"How many are alive?"

She blinked, "that...is impossible to know at this time. We'd have to connect to the database-"

"So all these people," he said, gesturing toward the room around him, "they could all be dead."

"I doubt that every fan of your is so. There are quite a few of them, after all, truthfully this is only a fragment-"

"It still proves that I can't save them!"

"You can save some."

"Some isn't good enough-"

"For one man it is," she responded, shutting him down, "you've saved enough souls making stories. Bullets are the security forces responsibility."

He shifted, "but my video -could it have-"

"No," she cut him off, "and even if it could have, it would still have been wrong. Isn't this good enough for you-"

He scoffed, "this could never make up for what I've done, it's only a _fragment_ compared to the lives I've destroyed-"

"So you'd genuinely rather brainwash the world _again_ than just make people's lives better now?" she fired.

His eyes flashed, "that's the only thing which would save as many people as I hurt."

"So you still don't count it as hurting people who don't want to be brainwashed!?"

The words, disappointed, bitter words left her deflated and closed as she waited for the response. It had to be coming, another shot in a regular volley, but instead the world defied her and she received nothing. Only a silence so deafening it made her stiffen. She didn't know what it meant. Was he reneging, returning to silence until she left or-

"You know, you might be right about that," he sighed, "but people deserve a right to choose. Just because it's brainwashing doesn't mean it should be destroyed."

She felt her eyes widen, "so you won't try to broadcast it again?"

"No," he said quietly, looking down tiredly, "not globally."

His last words rang sour, but it didn't dispel the relief that preceded them. Kyouko allowed herself to relax slightly, and took a long hard look at the man in front of her.

Despite his surrender, he was still tight, and the listlessness had drained out of him, he spoke through gritted teeth, "that's all I'm going to say until Munakata is here."

* * *

"You want to have us let you _continue_ researching brainwashing?" Munakata said incredulously, "after everything you've already done?"

Ryouta nodded "I was trying to fix what I'd done, but that video was the best that I could do without giving myself away," he explained, "but now it's in the open I… I can put real work into mitigating what I did -maybe even reversing it-"

"Or covering it up with another attempt," Munakata interrupted sharply, fixing Ryouta with a glare that made him wither in on himself. Kyouko shifted at it, starting to wonder if acquiescing to Ryouta's demands had truly been the best answer if he'd crumble this easily.

"Not if you don't _want_ me to," he replied, halting, yet desperate, "can't you see I'm trying to compromise with you!?"

"What I see is a man who's unable to give up even in chains," Munakata spat, "isn't it obvious that this brainwashing has done nothing but harm?"

"Of _course_ it's obvious," Ryouta exploded, "but thats why I have to do it -if I don't figure out something to do about it then what am I even alive for?"

Kyouko's blood froze at the sound of those words, freezing in her veins so that she was driven speechless for the next few seconds. Of course, by the time she could speak again it was too late -"I was under the impression you were supposed to be telling _me_ that," Munakata snarled, voice ice cold, "and if this is the best you can do then that might change things."

"Well what do you want then," she interrupted hastily, not liking how quickly things were spiralling out of control, "what would make this...acceptable."

Ryouta's voice erupted behind her, making complaints of duty and keeping out, but she paid no mind. Munakata clearly wasn't going to make any compromise that Ryouta was at the head of, and Ryouta was not going to make any concessions in his state of mind. She had to do this, for his sake.

"He'd need to be under close watch, naturally," she began, voice falsely casual and quick as though that would make Munakata any more likely to accept a thing she said, "and all his devices would need to be monitored and regularly checked, but that all seems like a small cost compared to the possible gains of being able to aid against despair."

Sadly, he remained unconvinced, "What would make this 'acceptable' is if you told me how this is any different than the video you were desperate to have me help stop."

"It -I -I don't know," she turned stiffly to Ryouta, "why don't you explain, since you are the expert."

Both their eyes turned to him with immense pressure, but Ryouta didn't buckle. There was something lifeless in his eyes, and it seemed to have freed him somehow. "I won't be manipulating people's free will," he explained calmly, "I'll limit myself to procedures that calm the mind or decrease anxiety and depression -and if you want, I'll limit myself to visual only stimuli… you can think of it as a sort of visual chemical antidepressant."

Munakata scoffed, "and the despair video could be thought of as a psychoactive substance -please don't try to distract from the truth of the matter. This brainwashing is dangerous because it is too effective and it spreads too easily."

"That won't happen. When I made that -that video Enoshima forced me to specifically have it work instantaneously and permanently. I- I don't have to do that this time-"

"And you would accept that?"

"Huh."

"Say my terms were that it would have to work for a period of no more than five hours and that only one copy were to ever be produced" he said sharply, "and that it would be incompatible with any network and that it would be constantly vetted by a team of trusted superiors -would you accept that."

The list went on for too long and Ryouta didn't seem to like it at all. Kyouko's heart beat unabashedly fast, hoping desperately that he would simply agree without making it more complex. If there were any problems then they could deal with it when relevant heads had cooled.

Thankfully, he seemed to humour her. But as his hair tipped over his eyes as he agreed, she could only feel that she was missing a piece of the puzzle. A single solitary note that kept everything from feeling finished.

It haunted her, keeping her rooted to the spot in worry and instinct until Munakata finally left, and as the footsteps vanished into the background and Ryouta looked at her with hard, betrayed eyes, she suspected that things weren't quite over.

* * *

Welp heres chapter twenty something! Sorry for the long ass wait! I got really drawn into several things all at once and after the other, so work was slow :I .

As I wrote this, (and kinda disliked it since while it got a lot out of the way it's still got more to go) I slowly realised I'd never be able to end it in a way that satisfied my self since that would require timeskips and effort, but I hope I can still make something okay for the rest of you. This fic has been super fun for me and I'm surprised at the amount of love it's received and I hope to repay that! Thanks and see you next chapter!


	26. Final

Disclaimer: I do not own danganronpa

* * *

"Nothing will change."

Kyouko's vision sharpened, focusing on Ryouta.

"Finally decided to say what's on your mind?"

"If we police my work to such an extent, nothing will change. It's all absurd!" he cried, "what's the point of making a cure that only works for _five hours?_ How are people going to access it if it's so heavily suppressed? They don't even have internet out there!"

"It's only so they can control it if something goes wrong. Once they approve it then I'm sure they'll make it more accessible."

"Once they approve it!? They've made completely clear they won't approve anything worthwhile!" he exclaimed, burying his head in his hands, "if it's like this I'd rather die-"

"Normal medicines only work for a few hours-"

"They only have to because they take them multiple times a day!" he suddenly broke out into laughter, "I can just imagine it! People lining up at the foundation headquarters at lunch and dinner just so they can stare at a damned screen for five minutes. It'll never work!"

"Well if you truly find it so objectionable then you can take it up with them," she said coldly, "you can't expect trust after what you've done."

His jaw clenched, "so what! All I was trying to do was save people, but even after admitted what I did was wrong I'm still being kept from redeeming myself!"

"If you know what you did was wrong then act like it," she said bluntly, "instead of making complaints and insisting that you be allowed to try again change the way you act and one day they'll give you freedom."

He choked, "one day - _One day_! So I'm to wait then? Work and wait?" his voice was high, hysterical, "I've been _working_ and _waiting_ for years? Am I supposed to wait _forever_?"

"No one said that making up for things would be easy, but it's the only way forward... and if it makes it any easier to walk that road, then I'll help you do it."

He stilled, then looked up at her, "you'll help me?"

"Yes."

"You'll really do it, vouch for me?"

"Yes, though I can't promise it will achieve anything."

"Even if it means going against Munakata?"

"Yes."

"Even if it means losing your standing?"

"Yes."

"Even if it means you have to go behind other people's backs?"

"...It won't come to that."

At those words, the hope in his eyes that had been slowly growing died, "so what you mean to say is that you won't help me at all."

She shook her head, "If your work is really so well meaning, then it shouldn't be a problem to get it moved forwards. If you really think that the slightest control is worth dying over, then I suppose there's nothing I can do but leave you here."

"But I don't think it'll come to that, " she added, "because I think you understand that there is nothing your death could accomplish that would outweigh what you can do alive."

 _I have faith in you, I can only hope you'll find faith in yourself._

* * *

It had taken her a moment to catch her breath after leaving. Seven seconds of inhalation and eight of exhalation. Over once until her chest was no longer burning with disappointment.

Then she turned, saw Munakata in the doorway, and promptly lost her breath again.

"You gave better answers than I expected." he said, cutting her off before walking to the hallway and gesturing for her to follow.

It took her a moment to follow and regain her composure, "I simply answered realistically -and honestly" she added, "...I really will vouch for him. Even though what he did was wrong, he still deserves that, I think..."

"Why do you still believe in him after everything?"

"Well he never _thought_ he was hurting people."

"Instead he thought he was helping them by destroying their free will. That is not any better," he sighed, "besides, it's not as if we're illegally detaining him. He tried to globally broadcast an untested treatment."

"There are laws regarding something as obscure as video terrorism?" she asked, cursing on the inside, _If there hadn't been, we might have been able to leverage something._

Munakata shook his head, "it might be obscure, but the despair video did unprecedented damage. After it was broadcast, several countries worked in tandem with the foundation to pass legislation against video terrorism. It's practically international law."

"Still, the video never broadcast properly! Do they even know who did-" she came to the realisation before Munakata even corrected her "he used the future foundations technology."

He nodded, "as the central organisation working against Ultimate Despair we have direct lines into several nations. They know it was one of us, and even if we wanted do-" he directed the last part sharply at her, "-we couldn't let them go unpunished."

"If you showed such blatant corruption," she said slowly, "it would be the end of the foundation."

 _In order to ensure the foundations effectiveness, we have to punish Ryouta._

In that case, they'd _have_ to punish him. It would destroy Ryouta to know that the Future Foundation -the world's hope -had collapsed because of him.

"But what will the punishment be?"

"What do you think it should be? What?-" he said, seeing the look on her face, "I did tell you that I wish to use you as an advisor, didn't I?"

"I didn't expect you to defer after what he's done."

He sighed, hand tightening around where his sword should be, "Sadly, judging the wrongdoings of other people is evidently not my strong suit."

"But I am biased."

"There is no such thing as not being biased." he said firmly, "even these beliefs of mine are fuelled by fear and hatred. That is why...I would welcome your criticisms -even if others would decry them as 'soft'."

Kyouko stared at him for a while then, not quite sure whether she could believe him. Then she realised that the sword he was holding was a new one -and a poor blade at that, and her decisions clicked into place.

"What Ryouta fears most is being useless in future. His desire to atone is genuine, so if you wanted to be cruel then you could simply prevent him from trying to help people. If you wanted to be _practical_ , you would use him to deflect criticism-" after all, even she couldn't pretend that he wasn't responsible for that terror attempt, "-but if you wanted to be _kind_ , then you'd try to let him complete a better video, without red tape."

She received only silence in return, though.

* * *

In the end, she couldn't tell whether her words had had any impact. Ryouta had been used as a scapegoat, and put under arrest. Munakata had been practical.

But on the other hand, he hadn't been killed -though maybe that had been practicality as well.

" _He's too useful to waste, Sir Munakata."_

" _Hmmm, do you have an idea on how to use him, then?"_

" _My country is in...turmoil. To have the ultimate propagandist on our side would be a fine help."_

Kyouko had been… happy, somewhat. It would be easier for Munakata to keep Ryouta around if he was being handed excuses to do so, but Ryouta had been set against it.

" _I don't want to be making useless propaganda to prop up some foreigner!" he'd cried, throwing the laptop aside -though still with great delicacy, "I have to work on the hope video!"_

" _But you'd be helping."_

" _He'd watch me." he growled, shaking his head, "they're always watching. I won't be able to do a thing."_

" _Well at least by doing good work here you might be able to build trust. It may put you one step closer to being able to work on the video again."_

 _But Ryouta had only given a choked laugh, "I wonder about that, Kirigiri...what was it that he called it? -turmoil? Maybe I'll be doing something even worse than the despair video this time around."_

" _There's no way that will happen. The Future Foundation is very particular about the nations it serves."_

" _So you trust Munakata more than me now, then?" he asked, "now I just feel I've been fooled."_

And yet he was still helpless in the end. They watched him carefully for suicidal urges or tools, and so he had no choice but to capitulate to the demands Munakata had made. So it was that his new life began, endless work, with barely any leisure, producing videos for king after president after king after emperor after president again.

And she'd worried every time, investigating each country to the best of her abilities to make sure her friend was only working for the most well meaning of goals. Hammering away at barrier after barrier, and using her connections to tape and picture every last scene... she put her detective skills to work on the wider scale than ever before, with higher stakes than anything. Somehow or other from that, she'd become the leader of a human rights investigative team in the Future Foundation.

"It would give you unlimited rights to investigate the Foundation itself," Munakata said carefully, "but we'd also be able to negotiate your investigative powers on a national scale. Perhaps not unlimited, but enough so that you would be able to easily find agents of despair on any level."

Even so, she had had her doubts. She lacked manpower, and her skills were only useful for small scale crimes. Without the ultimate authority of the law, there were limits to the things she could do, to the contacts when could receive. To believe that her skills as a criminal justice detective would serve her in such circumstances seemed impossible.

At such moments, she would think of Naegi. Despite being the ultimate lucky student, he'd been a perfectly fine investigator, and had even grown to becoming the ultimate hope. Even Asahina had gone from being the ultimate swimmer to being capable of getting hundreds of supplies to where they needed to go. If they could do it, then perhaps she, too, could learn to do what was necessary in the name of hope.

(She was glad that even now he was still teaching her things.)

* * *

In time, she learned to kill those doubts. The work grew easier, and the recruits she had come upon were always promising. Even though the foreign agents had been suspicious and withdrawn at first, soon the pressure of appearing as though they had nothing to hide turned them over to her one by one.

With each, the transparency of the national stage grew in clarity, and as they built their communicative powers soon they had an exhaustive and ever changing view of the world, and using the transmission device of that headquarters for it's proper purposes they shared that view with the entire world. Soon their entire community was watching itself and working together towards restoration, and no matter how many steps they were forced back she had hope in the future.

'There would be no need for a hope video' that truth became ever more clear no matter how hard Ryouta ignored it and tried to create it anyway.

Time and time again, he'd been caught or suspected of working on it, and she and her friends had had to bail him out each time. At this point, it was becoming arduous.

"Just how good does the world have to become for you to give up on this?"

"Better than this!" he snapped.

"It's already better than it was yesterday!" she fired back, "And better than the year before! You already know this, because we send you the data _every time_ it improves!"

 _All in some vain hope, no, I won't allow it to be vain._

But then he shot up, hands clenched by his side, and Kyouko felt her heart fall into a banal disappointment. Such a typical thing... somehow every conversation had always turned into a row within a few lines.

But for some reason, something also seemed different today. Perhaps it was that he was shaking, or that he was pale, or that his words were more weak than they usually were.

"But it's still not- it would have to-..." he trailed off into a silence that lasted for a minute, then he collapsed into the corner, unresponsive. Another typical response, but at least he got to it quicker this time.

"How many conversations have ended like this over the years, Ryouta?" she said dryly, "I'm growing tired of the recursion, aren't you?"

"...maybe," he sighed, "it's clear you won't change your approach no matter what."

"Well if I'm too stubborn to move this forward, perhaps you should instead. I'll say it again: Just how good does the world have to become for you to give up on this?"

"I-I don't _know_ -" he whined, "I still feel so terrible. I thought that if the world improved itself enough than I would stop feeling this way. I would stop feeling like I had to make that video!... but even after all these years, it still hasn't changed at all. Maybe the problems aren't with the world…-in that case I'd be stuck here forever, huh…"

"That depends on you," Kyouko replied, "you might have studied brainwashing, but surely you studied growth as well."

"Of course. I can't use any useful techniques when I'm working for other people. Weak little slogans and bright colours are all I'm allowed."

"Then you ought to know better than to call them useless."

"Or perhaps I know best of all...it doesn't matter anyway, I don't whatever help you're thinking of."

"Why not?"

"I don't deserve it. There are things I've stolen that can never be returned."

"You mean like your classmates?"

His whole body suddenly shook, eyes lighting up with fresh horror the way they always did. The first time it had happened it shocked her. Since then, she'd never brought it up again.

But today was an unusual day in more ways than two.

"If they really are the core of your regret...what would you say if there was a request to help them?"

"I didn't even know if they were still alive…"

"Munakata publicly punished them, but it was a ruse. In exchange for protecting them and putting resources towards their awakenings, they have offered their considerable talents. It was also my hope that he might learn to forgive them."

"He should. It wasn't their fault."

"I'm sure that's a factor in his decision, too." she nodded, "sadly, though, Hinata's mind is still adjusting after the simulation, and he cannot access many of his skills. One of them was his skills as an animator, so we require yours."

Ryouta shifted in place, but his eyes had lost their anger. Instead there was something she hadn't seen in a long time. Hope -marred by suspicion -but still burning bright.

"What could they possibly need the skills of someone like _me_ for?"

"Recently, members of their group have been waking up, but many are...not dealing with it as well as the initial players. I believe it is because they were not a part of that final trial. They did not achieve the level of mental preparation that Hinata's friends did."

"So what? They're crazy and you want me to fix them? You're okay with brainwashing _now_?"

"Of course not. But I am far from objecting to your talents being put to use in less extreme ways."

"Then it'll be useless-"

"Many of them have _post traumatic stress disorder_ Ryouta." she said, raising her tone just a little, "they could use your videos for controlled exposure, reassociation treatment or even simply as white noise to help them relax! They are requesting you -specifically you -because they have hope that you will be able to make their life even a little more bearable!"

"I don't understand it," she finished, finally just letting the weariness spill out of her, "you seem so against the mere idea of half steps instead of miracles...why can't you just work slowly."

He sighed, "because everything is my fault."

She felt her entire body droop, _such a drow note to end on_.

"Even so, I guess I'll have to try." he finished, giving her an unreadable look as she leapt to attention, "This is my one chance, and standing still won't achieve anything either."

His words had stunned her. So much that she couldn't even remember the rest of their conversation when she thought on it later. All she knew was that they'd worked out terms and timing, but every other word had been drowned out by the blood rushing through her ears at the fact that she'd finally succeeded -after all these years she'd finally made the barest start.

It wasn't a complete victory by any stretch of the imagination. This trip could be regrettable for him, and there was much more work to be done on him and others before everything would be perfected.

But in the end, it was the first step, and if you're still learning to walk, then even the first step is a victory.

* * *

Well here's the end, I wish that I could've done something better, but in the end this is all I can manage. Even so, I hope that any people who are still reading this enjoyed it, or at least parts of it. I really might not have been able to get through it without the support!

I think I'm gonna continue fanficcing. It's really fun! But it's probably gonna be lots of Fallout sadly. (Unless you play Fallout. Which all of you should if you have the opportunity.)

Either way, it's been a wild ride full of fun and hard lessons about outlining, passion and steam. I'm glad I did it.


End file.
